Iceheart
by gigatronthepwn
Summary: Before, only the oldest dragons and most knowledgeable scholars knew of the Lizard Tribe. But now, all will know. Rated M for Epic Battle Sequences, Violent Creature Action, and for Mild Language.
1. Author

**FOREWORD**

I can see it now: _Cloverfield 2: On Ice. 28 Centuries Later. Dino Emblem. _All of these could be possible alternate titles for _Iceheart_, my latest completed fan fic. Now instead of giant vampire snakes that wish they were Xenomorphs, we have Godzilla and his Rage Mutant army. Sorry, did I say "Godzilla and his Rage Mutant army"? I meant Vazelesqos and the Lizard Tribe!

As you can see, I realize full well that I'm unoriginal, even for a writer of fan fiction. At least this one doesn't involve braindead humour that mostly only the brainwashed _Family Guy _loving teen crowd would find any funnier than giggle-inspiring. Despite how much praise I get for my writing, I'm still never entirely satisfied with what I write- but then again, artists are rarely satisfied with their artwork, so I suppose the same applies to writers. Especially writers of creature feature fan fiction.

I think if I keep this up, I might create a new sub-genre in the _Fire Emblem _section- Creature Feature fics, in which the characters get stuck in a situation not unlike a _Godzilla _movie or something the Sci-Fi Channel would produce. Given how many other odd fads there are in this fandom, I don't find it unlikely. Go ahead; I dare someone to write a Creature Feature fic. Make me less lonely as sole CF writer.

But I digress. Without further ado, I present _Iceheart_.

**UPDATE: AND NO, I WILL NOT RENAME _ICEHEART _AS _SNOW LIZARDS _OR _ICE MONSTERS _OR, NO, NOT EVEN _DINO EMBLEM _JUST BECAUSE I RENAMED _BASILISK'S REIGN _AS _SATANO-SNAKES_.**


	2. Melt a Heart of Ice

_What's this? A new _FE _fic from Gigatron the Pwn? What ho! Aren't you excited? Because I'm not. If you're excited, that at least makes one of us. You know what a new Gigatron fic means? It means a Sci-Fi Channel Saturday night suckfest monster movie reformatted into a fan fic. Prepare for more overblown monsters with silly names. Prepare for more of me not being awesome enough (yes, I'm actually complaining about this). Prepare for more...! AH... For more... suck... blagh..._

-Lethe

Because sedatives can solve all the world's problems if used correctly. So without further ado, here's the first chapter of my new fic, **Iceheart**.

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The hiss of steam shattered the morning silence. Five figures clad in red robes, all with tomes of fire magic clutched in one had while they summoned, and then launched, balls of fire from their hands. Their targets hid themselves behind a snow-covered rock formation, while the fire whizzed past their hiding place and struck the snow and ice, melting it so rapidly that the resultant steam caused the ungodly hissing.

"At this rate they'll melt the whole snowfield and flood the countryside!" one of those hiding from the barrage exclaimed, a young, hazel-headed sword fighter.

"If you don't have something useful to say, Edward, I suggest you keep quiet," ordered the oldest member of this group, Nolan, a muscular axe fighter. "Leonardo, return fire before they melt this rock. Sothe, when is Michaiah getting here?"

As Leonardo, the baby-faced blond archer left the cover of the rock to fire few arrows at the attackers before ducking back behind cover, Sothe's eyes peered out from in between the strands of his scruffy green hair. "She said she'd be arriving when our situation got dire," he explained. "But exactly how dire, I'm not sure. We're in pretty rough shape right now."

Then, a small red bird flew over the ravaged snowfield. "Ah, here she is now," Sothe said with something resembling a smile managing to form on his face. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light exploded throughout the field. The fire-flinging attackers were taken off guard, and were incapacitated, falling to their knees and throwing their hands over their crippled eyes. Standing atop a nearby hill, long silver hair rippling behind her in the wind and a tome of Ellight tucked under one arm while she raised one glowing hand, was the Silver-Haired Maiden Michaiah, the leader of the Dawn brigade and the personification of hope to the people of Daein, who now lived in a constant state of terror thanks to the occupying Begnion army. The little red bird, whom Michaiah had taken in as a companion and affectionately named Yune, flittered down and landed on the young woman's shoulder.

But one of the Begnion fire mages refused to give up without a fight. Staggering to his feet, squinting hard, trying to regain even a vague hint of sight, he summoned a ball of fire in his palm and launched the burning sphere from his hand into the air. However, he missed his target by a mile, and the fire simply flew off into the cold winter sky. Then the blind mage was struck in the side of the head by an arrow- Leonardo had taken advantage of the foe's disability. The other mages were in neither the mood nor condition to oppose the Dawn Brigade any longer. They picked up their tomes and stumbled off into the snow. Michaiah descended the hill as the rest of the Brigade came out from their hiding place to meet her.

"Glad to see you could finally join the party," Edward wisecracked, sheathing his blade.

"If it hadn't been for Yune scouting ahead I may not have arrived at all," Michaiah replied as she gently petted the bird's head. "Is everyone well?"

"Still, it was quite an entrance," remarked Nolan as he tugged on his gloves- something he did almost compulsively.

"We're fine," Sothe confirmed. "The Begnionions desperately need to work on their aim. What about you?"

"I'm alright," Michaiah answered with a slight smile.

"What's our next move?" Leonardo inquired.

"I have the package, so we should continue on our way to deliver it to General Tauroneo. Care to scout ahead, Yune?" The bird chirped in response as it lifted from Michaiah's shoulder and flew away.

"You and that bird," Sothe commented. "It isn't natural. Have you got some kind of connection with that bag of feathers or what?" Michaiah shot him a scolding look.

"If that's still the objective, we'd best follow the bird," said Nolan.

"Hopefully he doesn't lead us into another Begnion detention camp," Edward joked.

"That was the one and only time Yune has misled us!" Michaiah defended.

"If you're done arguing about the bird's reliability, I'd think Tauroneo would like to get this package sooner rather than later," said Leonardo.

"...said the one who's late for nearly all of our meetings," Edward quipped.

"Edward, stow it. Let's not keep the general waiting," Sothe resolved. With that, the Dawn Brigade moved out, following Yune's direction.

The fire ball the mage launched at Michaiah had indeed missed its target. The flame had come nowhere near striking the Maiden, but it did eventually strike something. Somehow, the ember stayed alight much longer than such flames normally do. It stayed alight long enough to strike the side of a mountain. And by doing so, it melted something.

It melted a heart-shaped ice wall in the mountainside.

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_Ugh... Gigatron, you son of a... What? I'm musing again? Very well then. So the fireball melted a wall of ice shaped like a heart, did it? And the fic is called _Iceheart_, so this is likely foreshadowing. What's next? Ice monsters spawning from some snowy chasm of hell? Knowing Gigatron, all manner of ridiculous things are possible at this point. Also, don't get your hopes up for Tauroneo actually appearing; Gigatron sure talks about him a lot, but he never seems to want to let him actually make an appearance. _

Yes, thank you, Lethe... Thanks you... (No cat-nip for you)


	3. Prisoner of War

Darkness clouded the dungeon like an all-consuming black blanket. Though Lethe could see through the darkness, she couldn't be bothered to open her eyes. Chained to a wall like a stray dog and locked away in a cramped cell, she was a prisoner of the Begnion army. Welts, bruises, and scars covered her back and limbs, hunger gnawed at her stomach, and fatigue clouded her thoughts. But nothing these Begnion scum could do to her would make her surrender Gallia's secrets. They could torture and starve her all they wanted. She'd tell them nothing.

Then the stench of iron wafted to her nose as footsteps drew closer. Lethe's eyes opened only slightly, just enough to see who approached. Three guards clad in red armour stood outside the cell- two lance-wielding soldiers and one axe-wielding fighter. She recognized the fighter, but saw the elixir on his belt, and saw what was planned here. She kept silent.

"It's getting rather clear that this one isn't going to tell us anything," commented on if the soldiers as he jabbed Lethe in the ribs with the haft of his lance.

"Why don't we just put her out of the misery and feed her to the guard dogs?" another questioned. The fighter remained quiet, his eyes slowly shifting from side to side. Suddenly, in two quick swings of his axe he cut the soldiers down! This didn't strike Lethe as a smart idea.

"Boyd, what in the hell are you doing?!" she questioned.

"I'm taking out the guards, what's it look like I'm doing?" Boyd replied as he pulled a key from his belt, unlocked the cell, and the released Lethe from her bonds before handing her the elixir, which she did not hesitate to drink. The sweet blue liquid healed her wounds as well as satisfied her thirst and hunger.

"Ike and your company are waiting outside the fortress," Boyd explained, removing the red armour. "You should see the troops King Gallia set aside for us to tear this place down in case a fight broke out!"

_3/05/648_

_Night_

_Mild Overcast, Light Drizzle_

_Lethe had gotten herself captured by the Begnionions a few days back. I would've written about it then if I hadn't been so busy chasing her captors down with the squad she left me. Turns out his Majesty King Caneghis was planning to raid the fortress the enemy kept her prisoner at anyway, so he allowed me and my people to help with the raid. Of course, we're still a good ways away from Gallia, so even once we've gotten Lethe back with us we're still not out of the hot zone ye..._

"Hey Bookworm!" a voice called, startling Lyre a bit. She never could keep her nose out of her journal. She was either writing about her day, scribbling notes, or doodling in it. As the Gallian army's best- albeit practically only- tactician, she needed something to write her strategies and tactics on. This had earned her the nickname "Bookworm". She looked up from her writing to see the Sub-Commander of the army, Ranulf, looking in her direction. "I hope you're not getting too preoccupied. If one thing goes wrong down there this could turn ugly at any moment."

Lyre closed her journal and put it in the large satchel around her waist and then brushed a few strands of her long ginger hair away from her eyes. Gathered around her were her squadmates. Corporal "Sniper Onion" Danu, a lanky black cat who wore his green bandana in both human and animal form was laying atop a boulder, sleeping peacefully. He was shaken back to attention by Lieutenant "Skinny Bones" Klyassha, a small tigress with short brown hair and a deceptively small frame. Finally was Private "Bishie" Rikel, a scrawny, blond-haired pretty-boy of a cat, who was currently preening himself with a comb and a small mirror he carried with him at all times. What Bishie was doing in the army, no one could understand.

Fort Negflar was located din the heart of the Begnion woodland and was surrounded by forest. In these trees waited a sizable unit of the Gallian army. The unit's objective was to raid the fort, eliminate the Begnion garrison, and liberate the prisoners inside, most notably General "Sourpuss" Lethe, who had been captured by enemy forces while escorting a fellow Gallian general, Giffca back to home turf. Giffca had escaped the ambush and told the Gallian king Caneghis of the situation. Following the guidance of Commander "Bookworm" Lyre, Lethe's younger sister, a rescue mission was planned, and now with the assistance of Ike, the leader of the Greil Mercenaries and supporter of Gallia, was coming to a happy ending. Lethe and Boyd were escaping the fortress through the back gates while the guards were none the wiser.

"Here she comes now," Klyassha announced, seeing Lethe rushing ahead of Boyd as the two left the fortress. "Orders, ma'am?"

"Let her get up here, then let the troops attack," Lyre instructed. "Do a full sweep of the fort and the surrounding area. Let none of our enemies still stand by the morning's light."

As Boyd went off to return to Ike's side, Lethe rushed into the cover of the trees and to her fellow laguz. As she approached, however, she was tackled to the ground by Lyre, who grew giddy with glee upon seeing her sister alive and well. Lyre had become more mature over the past few years, but some things never changed.

"Now is not the time," Lethe scolded Lyre as she struggled out of her younger sister's grip. "We have more important things to worry about. Tackle things on your own time."

"Sorry for being worried about you!" Lyre exclaimed sarcastically while giving the hand signal for the troops to attack. The unit stampeded out of the forest to besiege the fortress while Lethe continued her path into the safety of the trees. She was in no condition to fight, still tired, thirsty, and hungry. All the way, Lyre stayed right behind her. "Ike wants to have a word with you, by the way," Lyre announced.

"He'll have to wait until I've at least gotten something to drink," Lethe retorted. "The way he talks to me now I'll have strep throat by the time the conversation's over. Besides, he only ever talks about one thing: 'Lethe, are you pregnant yet? Did I get you knocked up?'"

"Well, _are _you pregnant yet?" someone asked suddenly. Lethe froze.

"No I am NOT, Ike. Stop worrying about it," she insisted as she slumped down against a tree. Ike slumped down against the opposite side of the tree's trunk.

"I'm just being cautious. I'm the leader of a mercenary company, and you're a high-ranking general. A child could complicate things," Ike explained with his usual pseudoscience.

"King Caneghis would allow me a year or two's leave if I were to become pregnant or have a child. Since you're so reluctant to let Titania take the reins for a while, you'd be the one complicating things," Lethe explained in a more plausible way.

"I suppose so. So there's nothing so far?"

"No. Nothing. We're done here. Lyre, what's our next move?"

"I'll assemble the squad and we'll move out to Gallia at tomorrow's dawn," said Lyre.

"Now that you mention it, I suppose Titania could lead the company for a while, couldn't she?" Ike wondered.

"Don't get any ideas," Lethe growled.


	4. Vazelesqos Rises

Something wasn't right.

There was no snow or ice or cold winds here. Was this not Daein? Did Daein not have the harshest winters of any country in Tellius? This _was_ Daein, and it _was _winter- But it certainly didn't look like it. Deep, water-filled sinkholes littered marsh-like plains and swampy rivers snaked in between gnarled mangrove trees. The air was hot and muggy; this didn't seem like Daein at all.

It was eerily familiar to something Nailah had heard once before when she was but a barely-weaned pup. But that was only a fairy tale. The Wolf Queen felt a bit silly for frightening herself with an old legend. Surely she had made a wrong turn into Gallia. So, they couldn't have. Mountains could be seen in the near distance. There were no mountains in Gallia. This was Daein. Something was very, very wrong here. Nailah and her single companion, a younger male named Volug, trekked across what should have been a snowfield, but was instead a shallow river dotted with lily pads and surrounded by moss-covered rocks and downed trees. A change in environment that occurred this fast could only have been caused by extremely powerful magic. Again, Nailah remembered that old legend.

The heat had forced the middle-aged female into her human form, but Volug could take the heat a bit better. He had to, because although the thick coat of hair in his wolf form would bear the sweltering heat down on him, but one of them had to stay in animal form for both of their safety. Volug was halfshifted, meaning that even though he was slightly weaker than most laguz warriors, he could stay in animal form for as long as he pleased.

"We'd best stop wallowing about in the wet if we hope to reach the Desert of Death before someone stumbles upon Prince Rafiel," Nailah concluded. "Goddess knows how he likes to sit about in that temple of his waiting for someone to find him." Volug nodded slowly in agreement. For whatever reason, he never spoke. Just then, the male stopped and sniffed the air.

"Don't get any ideas, Volug. We're cutting it a bit close as it is," Nailah warned. Volug heeded the warning only for a moment before whatever scent he had found had gotten the best of him. He bolted in the direction of the scent, forcing Nailah to assume wolf form to keep up with him. The Wolf Queen had caught a whiff of this odour as well, but she didn't see what Volug found so irresistible about it. She followed him for what must have been at least a mile and a half before Volug came to a stop in a large cave. The brown and grey wolf flopped to his side, starting to feel the effects of heat exhaustion. Nailah came up beside him, still with some endurance intact.

"I'd appreciate if you'd maintain your air of obedience," the said sternly. "When I say 'don't get any ideas', I usually mean 'don't get any ideas'. Why don't you rest in human form for a while? We seem safe enough here. Besides, it's a bit cooler as well." There was a pleasantly cold draft coming from deeper down the cavernous tunnel. However, the smell had gotten stronger to the point where Nailah almost wanted to gag from it. But the Queen of Wolves had a stronger stomach than that.

Volug, panting harshly, pulled himself up, mostly ignoring his queen, and slowly limped down the tunnel. Nailah shook her head. Volug was not usually this stubbornly disobedient. Normally, he'd jump off a cliff if she told him too. But now, he barely listened to her. What had gotten into him? The Wolf Queen followed her comrade deep, deep into the heart of the cave. As they went further along the tunnel, the air became steadily colder and ice could once again be seen forming on the walls and ground. Finally, they came to a stop at the rim of what looked like a very large crater. Nailah's heart skipped a beat when she saw what was in the crater.

There, in the hole, amongst the icy stalagmites and frozen boulders, were thousands- no, millions, maybe even _billions _– of grotesque ices sculptures! But ice sculptures didn't smell like that. No, these weren't sculptures, but more likely frozen creatures of three different varieties; the smallest ranged from five to eight feet in height, and were the only ones who stood on two feet, doing so on long, powerful legs ending in long, curved talons. Next were huge, fat serpents with stubby legs on their sides, long jaws filled with jagged teeth, and backs protected by rough, armoured skin. Finally were monstrous, featherless birds with bat-like wings and slender crests decorating their heads. Some were a bit smaller and more humanoid, but for the most part these looked like demons that had crawled out from the abyss.

Just like the old legend.

Fortunately, the creatures were dead frozen, and even if they were alive, they wouldn't be able to escape the steep crater.

"Watch your step, Volug," Nailah advised, noticing the ice encompassing the mouth of the crater. Volug listened this time, taking a cautious step back. They both stood for a moment, staring at the frozen horrorshow before them. Then, something fell on the top of Volug's head; small and wet- a drop of water. Maybe the ice on the ceiling was melting? No, there wasn't any ice on the ceiling, only in and around the crater. With this stench clouding their noses, neither of the wolves would have been able sniff out anything. Slowly, the male looked upwards.

There, hanging onto the stalactites with its talons, was one of the recently-thawed scaly birds! This one was a bit larger than the others, a dark forest green in colouration, and covered from nearly head-to-talon in freakish tattoos. A serpent coiled around its neck, runes were scribbled onto its wings, and stripes like those of a tiger's decorated its legs, torso, and head. The creature stared back down at the wolf and screeched like a huge, bald owl before swooping down and knocking both Nailah and Volug into the crater!

After sliding down the long, icy crater wall and crash landing into one of the boulders, the wolves regained their footing, now fully alert and ready for a fight. They'd get more than they bargained for, however. The finger of one of the frozen creatures twitched a bit. An ice-glazed eye slowly blinked and turned its blank gaze at the wolves. The creatures were thawing- they were coming back to life!

Suddenly the whole crater was filled with activity! The revived creatures violently shook off their icy bounds and freed themselves in a symphony of enraged roars and a shower of shattered ice! Then, the boulders and stalagmites began to quake and crack, revealing themselves to be not boulders and stalagmites, but instead the frozen claws and limbs of a single colossal beast that now rose from the ground like a monstrous undead ghoul from its icy grave! The smaller beasts surrounded Nailah and Volug as the giant pulled itself from the permafrost.

"This is why you should listen to me," Nailah said to Volug as two giant feet stomped down behind them. "No use trying to fight these things. We're outnumbered and overpowered. Just hope they understand the concepts of restraint and mercy." Gusts of air blew the wolves' hair about as they reverted to human form. The giant beast was standing directly over them. A clawed hand like a human's, only large enough to grab a horse as if it were a child's plaything and with maroon scales in place of skin slammed down beside Nailah and Volug.

"What business does the Beast Tribe have here?" a deep, growling voice boomed into the wolves' ears. Nailah looked over her shoulder and saw the speaker- a huge bipedal reptile with segmented armour like a centipede's exoskeleton. It was humanoid in shape and body structure, with thumbs and legs longer than its arms, and its long, thick tail coiled around its feet. Two horns jutted out over its eyes and its mouth was filled with teeth like swords. This monster was maroon in colour, save for its dark blue stripes, black back armour, and white tail tip.

"We don't have any business here. We'd quite like to leave, actually," Nailah explained. The monster sniffed her and blew its rank breath into her face.

"That fancy blanket on your shoulders... You're royalty, aren't you?" the beast questioned.

"Whatever gave you that idea? Maybe I just happen to have a well-developed sense of style," Nailah contradicted.

"Do not lie to me, she-wolf. Do you not know who I am?"

"One ugly son of a bitch?" Nailah speculated. This was met with an angry hiss from both the giant beast and as well as from its minions. "Vazelesqos, then? Vazelesqos the Lizard King?"

"Correct. What are the Wolf Queen and her boytoy doing in the lair of the Lizard Tribe?" Vazelesqos questioned, moving a mammoth claw so it rested on Volug's bare shoulder.

"For one, Volug is not my 'boytoy', as you so rudely put it," Nailah corrected sternly. She was about to continue when she was cut off.

"Ziz, why don't you and your Leatherwings go and scout our surroundings," Vazelesqos ordered. The green beast that knocked the wolves into the crater nodded and flew away, many of the other winged creatures following. "Behemoth, take your Raptors and patrol the forests and plains, find me some company." Behemoth, a bulky silver Raptor nodded and then clambered out of the crater, using his claws as grips, while the smaller Raptors followed. "Leviathan, show your Crocs that fishing vessels make for excellent dining." The biggest of the armoured serpents, Leviathan, almost blending into the discolouring ice with his navy blue colouration, hissed in response and slowly but surely climbed out of the crater, the other Crocs following. The crater walls were steep, but not steep enough to contain these horrors, it seemed.

Vazelesqos turned his gaze back to Nailah and Volug. "As for you, wolves, you're going to be my first prisoners in this new world. I'd imagine many years have passed and many things have changed since we've been gone. Wolf Queen, you're going to tell me all about it."

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_...Dinosaurs. Evil laguz who turn into dinosaurs. Now I've truly seen it all._

Lethe


	5. First Encounter

Tomorrow's dawn came all too quickly. Though Lethe slept soundly she still found that she was rather fatigued. A hearty breakfast helped somewhat to remedy this. Then it was time to assemble the squad and head out to Gallia.

"You're sure you can get back alone without any trouble? I could spare a few soldiers to assist you," Ranulf offered as Lethe prepared to set out.

"That's quite alright," said Lethe. "A smaller force means we'll be able to slip past the enemy easier." Lyre tried to convince Ranulf himself to accompany them, but to no avail. And so the squad departed.

Lethe was quickly becoming annoyed with Rikel. While the others rushed ahead in animal form, he fell far behind in human form, more concentrated on preening himself with that ridiculous little mirror of his than reaching home turf. "Tell me, Private," she finally said to him, "Do you consider yourself a Gallian warrior?"

"Not really, no. It's by my father's will that I'm here in the first place," Rikel scoffed.

"Oh, good. For a few moments I thought you may actually be serious about being here. Although, you should be serious about this. A lot of things can happen to you on the battlefield. Even worse things can happen if the enemy captures you. They'd likely think you'd make a nice rug or an excellent slave," Lethe said somewhat threateningly. "They may even turn you feral. That's why I suggest you deflate your ego and start thinking straight." Rikel didn't try to hide that he was intimidated.

"You'd best listen to the general," Klyassha added. "She's seen all this happen."

_3/06/648_

_Morning_

_Clear, Sunny_

_We've gotten Lethe back and are en route back to Gallia. As I write this we're stopped to rest by a waterfall in the forest on the Gallia-Begnion border. Lethe and Klyassha are ratting on Bishie for being such a pretty boy, and who knows where Danu went off to- although I'll likely find out soon. Ranulf offered to have some of his battalion escort us back to home soil, but we denied. It would be preferable to simply just have Ranulf himself come along. Alas, we're a five-person group out here. I'm not overly worried about the enemy right now. From what I've seen of our foe, they can barely stand up with all the equipment they're lugging around to "combat" us. One of the many advantages of being laguz is that beorc always seem to think they need all these ridiculous trinkets to fight us off. I swear I once saw an archer attempt to fend off a tiger with a canteen full of cold water. Needless to say, that didn't work out too we-_

"If you keep your nose in that book for too long, it may bite it off." Again, Lyre's time with her journal was interrupted. She looked up and found Danu looking back down at her, the usual mischievous glint in his eyes.

"There you are! You should be doing lookout duty with Bishie, but I see you've both abandoned your posts," Lyre observed.

"I wanted to see if your journal had eaten your face yet," Danu said with a shrug.

"Right then, Onion. Why don't you round up Rikel and do what I ordered you to?"

"I thought you might be lonely." There was that mischievous glint again, and Lyre knew exactly what that meant.

"Back to your post, Sniper." Lyre ordered. "NOW. Before my journal eats_your _face." She held up the leather-bound book and slammed it down on her open palm- a warning that Danu heeded. He didn't go back to the tree-covered hill to which he was assigned to, however. He went off into the bushes, his nose, ears, and pale green eyes searching for signs of an outpost of the Gallian army that he knew was near here. This was a small camp, only a few tents surrounded by a fence made of long, sharpened, outward-pointing branches poised to stab into a careless Begnion soldier. There were only about a dozen soldiers stationed there, most of which cats- young female cats, to be more specific. Danu was infamous for his squadmates for being a womanizer, a dedicated chaser of the fairer sex. Alas, Danu could not find this camp where many potential mates awaited him.

Instead, he caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent.

Following his nose, Danu was led by this scent to a large oak tree, growing tall and wide among several smaller oaks. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Except for that scent.

It was like a cross between a wyvern and a Dragon Tribe girl Danu had hit on once. But there was something else there too, a slight hint of dry ice. He had some second thoughts about further investigating, when he saw something move slightly behind the great oak. Had he just seen an elegant wrist beckoning him from behind the trunk? Could he have spied a long, thin tail swish out from behind the oak and into view for a moment? Yes he had, and now, there wasn't a stench in Tellius horrid enough to could keep him from further investigating.

Danu approached the great oak and slowly craned his neck to look behind the great trunk, and...

As Danu circled the tree he found the mutilated remains of what looked like it may have once been a female of the beast tribe, only the arms and tail intact. Then, something blindsided him and knocked him out. He would never wake up from this coma.

"Very well then, Private, why don't you and Klyassha scout ahead?" Lethe said sternly to Rikel, getting irritated. The two had gotten into an argument to which Klyassha had been witness to.

"..Y-yes ma'am," Rikel stuttered after a few moments as he rushed over to Klyassha's side.

"Someone get Lyre over here. We're moving out," Lethe announced.

"Right here," Lyre called out as she approached. "What about Danu, though? I sent him back to the outpost."

Lethe thought for a moment. "Rikel and Klyassha, go find Danu while we go ahead, catch up to us when you find him. We haven't much time to waste." These orders were carried out. Lethe and Lyre went on ahead as Rikel and Klyassha backtracked to find Danu. The sisters ran for about an hour, careful not to cover too much ground too quickly so the others could catch up to them. To achieve this, they reverted to human form. Then, Lyre froze. The grassy clearing they were now crossing was quiet and peaceful, a pleasant breeze sweeping through. There was but one thing betraying the calm.

"Lethe, stop... Do you see those red spots in the bushes over there?" Lyre asked.

"Yes, but that's a cherry bush. Those red spots are just cherries, Lyre," Lethe replied.

"Indeed. But do you see that particularly large, shiny one? That's not a cherry. That's the armour of our enemy. There's bound to be more around here. They've set up shop downwind from us, the clever bastards," Lyre deduced.

"Then we'd best hurry along."

"Now. They've probably got more troops surrounding this area. They likely recognize us both. We should just hold out here until Bishie and Klyassha come to our re..." Lyre was cut off when a poorly-thrown javelin landed at her feet. Then two dozen Begnion soldiers stormed out of the forest, completely surrounding the sisters, lances aimed at the cats' throats! One soldier looked thoughtful for a moment, and then spoke.

"Do we really need to kill or capture these two?" he asked his comrades. "We could always sell 'em off as slaves and get a bit of extra gold for the war fund. Sure, they're a bit scrawny for labour, but they _are_ pretty little things."

Another soldier nodded in agreement. "Especially that long-haired one. I bet we'd get a lot for her," he said.

"Good. They don't seem to recognize us as a general and a tactician," Lyre whispered to her sister while the soldiers talked amongst themselves.

"The short-hair looks like she might have enough muscle on her to move a few crates," one soldier speculated, eying Lethe thoroughly. "What say we sell her off for labour and the other one just to sit around in a cage on some noble's estate and look pretty?" Most of his companions agreed with this.

Suddenly, before the soldiers could act on their decision, a huge green blur fell from the sky, visible only for a moment before zipping back up, carrying one of the soldiers with it! Then another fast-moving attacker, this one yellowish, swooped down and carried off another soldier. The Begnionions were panicking now. Had the hawks of Phoenicis come to Gallia's aide? That was how it first seemed. Then Lyre saw it.

A huge bird with wings like a wyvern and scales instead of feathers and a long crest protruding from the back of its head descending upon the terrified beorc, landing on one and knocking him to the ground, when it began to tear off his armour and eat him alive! Several more of these creatures repeated this gruesome process until the human soldiers were all stricken down and being devoured. Lethe saw this, and exchanged a glance with her sister. Without saying a word, they knew what to do. The two laguz turned into their animal form and fled into the forest, away from the carnage. As they did so, one of the scaly birds, this one large and dark green and covered in tattoos, descended upon the killing ground: Ziz, the Leatherwing general.

"General Ziz," one of the Leatherwings called out to its leader, "There were two Gallians with these humans. Female cats. They fled into the trees." Ziz nodded thoughtfully.

"Lord Vazelesqos will soon have his new slaves," the green beast sneered as he took flight. It didn't take him long to spy the two felines darting in between the trees. He descended upon them, claws poised to snatch them both away from the comfort of the ground in one fell swoop. They both heard and smelled him coming however, and moved into the relative safety of the bushes. No matter to Ziz, though.. He flew lower and followed them by carefully manoeuvring through the treetops.

"Lyre, you get out of here! Get back to Gallia and tell his majesty about this," Lethe shouted to her sister. "I'll deal with this one!"

"But Le..." Lyre tried to argue but was cut off by words with which she could never debate.

"That's an order, soldier," Lethe commanded. Reluctantly, Lyre broke away into a shallow trench, shielded by boulders and short trees. Ziz could never get her there. The Leatherwing could only go for Lethe now, something that he did not hesitate to do. The winged monster swooped down, knocking the cat clear off her feet and into a tree trunk. He landed next to her and transformed into his human form.

_Wait, a human form?_

It was like a human form. The Leatherwing's face looked much more human, now with a fang-filled mouth in place of a beak. He also was a bit smaller now and had long, thin arms and shorter, blunter talons on his feet.

That was when it hit Lethe; this thing, this horrid monster, was a fellow laguz. Ziz grabbed her by the throat before she could react and choked her back into human form, when he loosened his grip only slightly, just enough so that she could breath, and then pinned her against the tree and examined her closely.

"Ah, yes, my master will be very pleased with you," he hissed as he ran his fingers down Lethe's cheek. "Yes, you are _warm_... Lord Vazelesqos _likes _warm. He will like you very much."

"Vazel... esqos...?" Lethe gasped.

"Hush, beast girl. You will not spoke unless spoken too. Disobey this around your new master and you will be dinner," Ziz threatened. New master? Only King Caneghis could call himself Lethe's master. Whoever this Vazelesqos was, Lethe was not his to do as he pleased with. Then she remembered the dagger in her satchel. She could use that, but her hands were bound by the Leatherwing's claws. She'd need a diversion before she could reach for the blade. There was no need for her to think of one, however, as Ziz turned away, sniffing at the air. One of his hands left its position pinning Lethe to the tree to clench into a fist. "The border of Gallia. We are near it. Good. More prey for us and more slaves for our king," said the monster. "Excellent breeding grounds, as well."

Now was Lethe's chance! Reaching down, slowly, into the satchel, she felt around for the dagger. Where was it? She couldn't feel its sharp tip or wooden haft amongst the clutter in her satchel. _Where was it? _Then- ah, there it was. She pulled it out and then stabbed it into Ziz's jugular! The Leatherwing sprang away as the blade pierced his throat, flopping onto his back as blood poured from the wound! He writhed and twitched violently grabbing for the dagger, trying to cry out but only choked gurgles escaping his mouth. Then Ziz became still. He was dead. The dark red, almost black blood streaming out of the wound blended in with his black tattoos and his dark green skin. Lethe bent over the corpse, pulled the dagger out of the fallen lizard's flesh, and cleaned it with a cloth she pulled from her satchel.

So the Gallian border was near? Excellent. King Caneghis would know of this all the sooner.


	6. The Legend

The night after the ice wall in the mountainside melted, the frozen Daein countryside suddenly thawed along with it overnight, much to the confusion of the populace as well as the occupying Begnion army. The Dawn Brigade, who had taken shelter in some old ruins for the night, awoke to find where there was once ice and snow there was now marsh and muggy, tropical swamps.

"You think the occupiers could've gotten careless with their experiments?" Leonardo speculated.

"And thus melted the whole country? No, this looks to be beyond their power," Nolan disagreed. "If the Begnionions were to thaw out all of Daein, they'd have to drop meteors left and right. I don't see any craters anywhere, so that's out of the question."

"There's still the matter of the rainforest that's sprung up in winter's absence," Sothe added. "I swear there aren't as many trees and rivers in Gallia as there are here now."

"Did anyone else wake up with a bug in their mouth?" Edward inquired. As the rest of the Brigade talked among themselves, Michiah's eyes searched the now eroded and jagged mountainside. She managed to spy what appeared to be a tunnel burrowing into the exposed rock. This came as a stroke of luck to her. Normally travellers would have to go around Mt Geherg to reach the Brigade's destination, the Daein capital of Nevassa. Now, however, if fortune smiled on them they could simply go through the mountain rather than around it.

"We should move out now. I believe we have a good heading at Mt Geherg, as there seems to be a passage going through it," Michiah announced. "Of course, it could always be a cave, but let us try to think positively." Soon the eyes of the others searched for what she spoke of, and their gaze too fell on the hole at the mountain's base.

"We haven't got too much time to lose. I say we try it," said Sothe with a shrug. And so it was decided.

"From what I remember, Crimea was determined to improve relations with Gallia. Has this changed at all?" Vazelesqos questioned Nailah as he stuck a finger in between the columns of stone imprisoning the wolves to fiddle with the queen's long orchid hair. He twirled the wavy hair around as he lowered his head and exhaled harshly into Nailah's face. She rolled her eyes. She was never intimidated by this action before, and she certainly wasn't now that the Lizard king did it after every question.

"Not that I know of. Hitari, the nation of the wolves, has long been isolated from the world outside the desert. For all I know, Crimea and Gallia could be at war right now," the she-wolf answered.

"Hm. Most promising. If chaos engulfs one country my armies can move in and set up hunting and breeding grounds and infect the nation like a parasite, hiding within its host until the time comes to burst out and spread to the rest of the continent," Vazelesqos mused. Nailah stifled laughter. He was revealing his evil scheme right here in front of her, with nary a thought of her and Volug escaping to warn all of Tellius of this rising menace. Just then, a Leatherwing flew in and landed awkwardly, a result of hast, and bowed quickly before its king.

"My lord; General Ziz has been killed. He was pursuing two Gallians when- I suppose- he didn't exert proper caution or was outnumbered and over powered," reported the Leatherwing. "There, however, good news! We know Gallia is at war with Begnion, so we could move into either one of those countries." Vazelesqos nodded approvingly, seemingly ignoring the fact that one of his generals was killed.

"Ziz's failure wasn't in vain, then? Good. Find Behemoth and tell him to send a dozen of his Raptors into both Gallia and Begnion- six to each country, those groups consisting of three males and three females," Vazelesqos commanded. The Leatherwing bowed again, and then carried out this order.

Sending task forces into countries weakened by war to set up their territory and breed in order to "infect" the country, one could say, and then spread like a virulent plague throughout the land? It was a cowardly and bizarre, yet creative and simplistically brilliant tactic. Vazelesqos was surprisingly clever, Nailah would give him that. Still, even with the numbers and power at his disposal, even with this plan in motion, Vazelesqos couldn't possibly hope to make all of Tellius his primeval kingdom!

A certain legend repeated itself in the Wolf Queen's mind.

"Wait a minute… Did you see that?!" Edward exclaimed. The Dawn Brigade had nearly reached the tunnel when a huge, scaly, bat-winged something flew out and over their heads.

"Perhaps it was only a stray wyvern," Nolan guessed.

"I dunno, I've never seen a wyvern with a beak and two legs," Leonardo contradicted.

"Whatever it was, its gone now. Let's not forget we've still got a job to do." Sothe attempted to get the Brigade back on track. Yune was anxiously hopping about on Michiah's shoulder. Then, the little bird took flight, leaving its companions far behind.

"Yune, what are you doing?" Michiah cried, following the little bird. "Yune, come back!" Sothe put his face in his palms.

"From the way she treats that bird, one would think she's from Phoenicis," he commented.

The tunnel was long and wet, the walls covered in moss, the ground covered in moist dirt. There was no light here, so Michiah had to light the way with her magic in order to see. Yune was far ahead of her.

Vazelesqos and Volug had fallen asleep, but Nailah remained awake. She smelled a human approaching from the tunnel. Watching the steep crater ridge, she expected to see the human to run of the edge and fall to its death, but instead a little red bird, chirping merrily, flittered down and landed on Vazelesqos's back, where it hopped around a bit before taking flight again and landing on Nailah's shoulder.

"Hello there," Nailah greeted the bird with a whisper, "where did you come from?"

"Yune, where did you go?" a voice called from the top of the crater. That explained where the bird came from and where the human was. Sure enough, a young woman with silvery hair came running out of the tunnel and noticed the drop at the last moment, skidded to a near-stop, and then stumbled and slid down into the crater. She lay still at the bottom of the crater wall for a moment before looking up and wiping a handful of mud from her face. The first thing the human saw once her eyes opened was her bird sitting on Nailah's shoulder as the Wolf Queen looked back at her from in between the pillars.

"This must be yours," Nailah assumed as the bird left her shoulder to land atop the girl's head.

"There you are, Yune!" the human exclaimed cheerily as she wiped a bit more mud from her face. Then she noticed the sleeping Vazelesqos. "Wha-what is…?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you," Nailah offered. Slowly, cautiously, the young beorc approached the imprisoned wolf. Once she was within ten feet, Nailah asked her in whisper, "Have you ever heard the legend of Iceheart?"

"…No," the beorc answered quietly.

"Then I'll tell you," said Nailah, clearing her throat. "Many years ago- 4500 years, to be exact- beorc and laguz lived in peace and harmony. All was well in Tellius. But nothing good can last for long. The laguz hid something from their beorc friends. The Beast, Dragon, and Bird tribes were all well-known among the humans, but there was one tribe that only the laguz rulers knew of: the Lizard Tribe. The Lizards were hidden away from the outside world, imprisoned deep in the mountains of Phoenicis, for fear that they would destroy the peace, for they saw beorckind as nothing more than mere morsels waiting to be devoured and objects to sharpen their teeth and claws on."

Michiah listened intently to the old she-wolf's tale. Set to the steady breathing of the sleeping giant and the dripping of water from the melting chunks of ice strewn about, an eerie atmosphere filled the crater. Even Yune was silent and still.

"One day, the Lizard King Vazelesqos, enraged and starved, broke free and the Lizards spread across Tellius, destroying every village and city they came upon," the wolf continued. "The laguz rulers managed to trap them in a steep, treacherous canyon, but the beorc would not thank them. Instead, they declared war on the laguz, and with fury and might the Beast, Bird, and Dragon tribes were pushed to the brink of annihilation and enslaved. But the Lizards broke free, and upon seeing the atrocities suffered by their fellow laguz, launched a vicious assault against the humans. Now it was the beorc's turn to cower in their holes and pray to the goddess that these foes, gifted with versatility and raw, savage power, as well as being devoid of relent and mercy, could somehow be defeated.

But Vazelesqos was not satisfied with bringing the humans' reign to an end. He saw the other laguz as cowards and weaklings for not helping the Lizards in their crusade. Now the Lizards ruled the land with impunity, slaughtering every being they found, beorc and laguz alike. It was Tellius's darkest hour. All hope seemed lost. Then, a sage known as Iceheart united the few beorc and laguz still ready and willing to fight, and with his powerful magic and superior tactics, fought the Lizards back into the mountains of Daein- back then Daein was a swampland like it is now- where he froze and imprisoned them. Then, Iceheart disappeared. No one ever saw him again. No one ever heard from him again. Some say he was the goddess herself in disguise, come to save the land, or that he was at least blessed by the goddess. No one knew his real name or much about him. He got his title 'Iceheart' from the heart-shaped ice wall he put into the mountainside to seal the Lizards away forever. Just to make sure, he used his magic to make Daein a snow-covered ice field. If that wall were ever to melt, the Lizards would be freed. Obviously, the wall _has _been melted."

"So is… that… Vazelesqos?" Michiah asked. The wolf nodded slowly. Just then, the voices of the rest of the Dawn Brigade could be heard coming down the tunnel, and moments later, they all fell into the crater as Michiah had. As they tumbled down the steep wall, two pairs of sleeping eyes flickered open; those of the she-wolf's younger male companion and those of Vazelesqos.

"You blundering fools!" Nailah blurted at the chattering beorc who had awoken Vazelesqos. Get away from here unless you wish to see the inside of something's mouth!" As she spoke, Volug roused himself and went into wolf form, and then struggled through the pillars. He managed to struggle through as Vazelesqos roared his deafening fury! "Excellent idea, Volug! Get them away from here!"

"What the hell is going on here?!" Nolan bellowed as Vazelesqos stood up and towered before the beorc. Sothe turned to Michiah.

"You need to get away from here," he said. "If the rest of us die here, it won't matter as long as you escape with your life! We'll keep this creature occupied while you make a run for it, and we'll catch up to you later if we can."

"Sothe, n-no! I can't leave you here to…" Michiah began when Volug tugged impatiently at her hair. Without a word she allowed the wolf to lead her away, though she still looked back at the rest of the Brigade as they attempted to fight the Lizard King off, to little avail. They struggled up the crater wall and rushed out of the tunnel. As they did, Michiah hoped and prayed her friends would not be harmed.


	7. Skirmish

"Rikel and I, we had no idea where Danu was. For all we know, he was off pleasuring himself. Knowing him, it wouldn't be unlikely." Klyassha recounted the incident with a shaking voice. "We searched all over the place for him, and after about an hour, we found him… Some of him, at least. There were… there were _things eating _him! About half a dozen of them, all gathered around his remains, ripping off chunks of flesh with their hands and teeth…"

"What were they? Describe them," Lethe instructed.

"They resembled bald, nude men with scales instead of skin, hunched over and with bent-back legs like a bird's. They had claws like axe heads on their feet and spines growing out of their foreheads and necks and running down their backs. One of them turned away from Danu and looked at me and Rikel. Its eyes were yellow and its teeth were like those of a dog's, although other than that its face looked completely human. Then it pounced at Rikel and…" Klyassha couldn't bear to say any more. Lethe sent her away and looked down at the Gallian army before her. They had gathered around a towering statue of the goddess, overgrown with moss and vines. This statue was a traditional briefing place when Gallian military involvement was taking place.

"That is what we're up against. I too have faced these creatures. There seem to be, if our intel is correct, three different species," Lethe explained to the dozens of soldiers. "There are ones that fly, ones that hunt in packs on the ground like grotesque wolves, and larger, more serpentine beasts who inhabit the water. Though I've seen them change their shape from creature to more humanoid forms not unlike laguz, I refuse to believe that these abominations are brother laguz; no, these are demons from the abyss, and for the sake our friends, families, and homelands, and for the friends, families, and homelands of our allies, these monstrosities must be eradicated. Our enemy has already turned Begnion and Daein into their foul breeding grounds, and soon, if we do not stop them, they'll do the same to Mother Gallia."

Lethe stood upon the same pedestal the stone goddess stood on. Lyre stood off to the side, holding a heavy book with both hands. "Captian Lyre, whom I'm sure you all know better as Bookworm, will explain our plan of attack," announced Lethe as she stepped aside. All attention was focused upon Lyre as she opened the book and flipped through the pages until she came upon the one she needed.

"As most of you likely don't know, the Crimean army will be assisting us," Lyre began. Disappointed chattering arose from the crowd. Lyre raised a hand to silence them. "The enemy resides in a Daein mountainside, but they're swarming all over the border. We've got to punch a hole through their defences, fight our way to this mountain, and drop the roof of their own home on their heads. Our foes are reptilian, and thus cold-blooded. This means they need to spend several hours a day lying about in the sun. They seem to do this around noon- they practically all flop down in the dirt at the same time for hours on end. This is when we'll attack. The Crimeans will drop wind magic- which is too cold for the enemy's liking- and arrows on their heads. Then we'll rush in and finish off everything they missed."

The troops still looked disappointed. "…We'll be more involved when the 'fighting our way to the mountain' part comes," Lyre added quickly. The Gallian soldiers looked a bit reassured by this statement. Usually laguz warriors had too much pride in their own power to bother with strategy and tactics. But they listened to Lyre's plans intently. The reason for this rather clear: Lyre was young, available, and very easy on the eyes. That combined with her high military standing made her a trophy catch.

"We'll hide in the underbrush while the beorc will station themselves on the ridge over-looking the Daein border," Lyre continued. "Once they've done their thing, we'll run out and finish the enemy off. Then we'll continue along the ridge until we reach Nevassa. Daein is currently infested with millions of these things. We'll be spearheading the push deeper into the country, so anyone who didn't get any action while we were crossing the border, don't worry- you'll get your chance."

At noon the next day, both the Gallian and Crimean army were prepared to strike. As was expected of them, the Lizards were scattering the swamp, all comatose and lying in the sun, completely inactive. The most movement they made was an occasional twitch of the finger or tail. The scouts reported back to the main camp waiting just outside of the swamp, and it was decided that now was the time to attack. The troops roused themselves and moved into position, the beorc lining the hills and ridges surrounding the swamps as the laguz waited in the bushes as trees. The Lizards paid them no mind. One raised its head and stared into the foliage for a moment, but it saw nothing of interest and slipped back into a laze. The archers readied their arrows as the sages did their tomes of potent wind magic.

"I thought you supposed to be the masterful tactician of Gallia, bookworm," a Gallian soldier complained to Lyre. She was young- looking a bit too young to be in the army- and had the same ginger hair and violet eyes as Lethe and Lyre, although this cat's hair was short and curly; Lamia, the youngest of the three sisters. "But there you go and let the humans have all the action."

"If the beorc pick the enemy off from afar and then we finish the foes off, that drastically reduces the resistance we face, Lamia. Besides," Lyre explained, "as I said, we'll be more involved later on."

Lamia's brow furrowed. "Why do you keep calling me that name?!" she questioned with an angry voice. "My name is _Lyre_, dammit! _You're _Lamia!" The youngest sister had a fearsome identity crisis. She believed that her name was Lyre, and that Lyre's name was Lamia. She also irritated every sentient being she came into contact with by means of her arrogance and pig-headedness. It was for these reasons that Lethe and Lyre tried their hardest to pretend Lamia simply didn't exist.

"The real question is, _Lamia_, why does every play along with your disillusionment and humour you all the time?" Lyre questioned back, her patience already wearing thin. "Ah, but you'll have to answer that question later. The beorc are ready to attack."

All at once dozens of arrows, their points sharpened to the point where they could pierce steel armour, sprang from the bows and cut through the hot air. But then something no one had expected happened. One of the Lizards was awakening, and as it did it heard the singing of bows and smelled the enemy surrounding them, and it let out a horrible, ear-shattering scream that roused it comrades. Soon the Lizards were up and ready to fight, and their first victims were the beorc. Leatherwings descended from the sky upon the archers and sages, their raking claws and sword-like beaks ripping and tearing the humans to pieces within moments. Lyre cursed fluently as she saw this happening. Then the Crocs began to drag themselves out of the swamp water and towards the hiding Gallians as the Raptors charged towards the same target! Lyre cursed more fluently now and Lamia joined her.

The arrows had barely done any harm to the scaly monsters; only about six or seven of them were killed in the volley, and a few more were injured. Most of the Gallians had guessed the Crimeans wouldn't help much. This wasn't a job for beorc tactics and weaponry. This was a job for laguz might. The Gallians rushed out of their hiding places to meet the Lizards. Lethe led the charge. At first, things went well; the Crocs were too slow and bulky, and thus were quickly overpowered. While the Raptors could match the Beast Tribe's speed, they couldn't match its strength. Then the Leatherwings began to swoop down upon the fray, and with them distracting the Gallians the other Lizards began to gain the upper hand.

The odds seemed even still in Gallia's favour. For every Gallian killed, at least three Lizards died with the fallen beast. But more Lizards kept coming in endless waves. Even when badly injured or in their human forms, they were still dangerous opponents. Regardless, the brutal training Gallian soldiers were put through was paying off quite well now. A Gallian warrior was taught never to show pain or fear, that surrendering no matter what the odds was never an option. The Lizards were showing quite a bit of pain and fear in this battle, and many of them were quite satisfied to turn tail and run than face the Beast Tribe's claws. Then they came.

A huge navy blue Croc and a mammoth Silver-skinned Raptor, both with laguz stones- enchanted gemstones that allowed laguz to stay in their animal forms for longer than they normally would- implanted into their legs. Behemoth, the Raptor, surveyed the battleground as Leviathan, the Croc, waded through the bog towards the melee. Behemoth snorted and set his sights on a specific target, one who seemed to be worth his time; a ginger cat with a green scarf around her neck, who was tearing through the Lizards with ease. He charged towards his prey, jaws opened wide!

Yet another Raptor fell by Lethe's claws. How Begnion was taken so easily to these creatures was beyond her. She heard Behemoth's thundering footsteps coming towards her, and sprang out of his way. But though she avoided his jaws, she was blindsided by his think, branch-like tail, which struck her in the ribs.

After carving several dozen Lizards into meat scraps for nearly an hour on end now, she was beginning to tire. With this harsh blow she felt herself slipping back into human form. Behemoth was disappointed that he'd defeated her so easily, but at least he'd get a meal out of it.

A sudden surge of searing hot pain exploded all over Lethe's body as Behemoth's serrated teeth stabbed into the soft flesh of her belly! The Raptor lifted her from the ground and shook her violently for a moment before opening his jaws and letting her drop to ground. Lethe was paralyzed with agony for a moment. The sweet taste of blood filled her mouth, and there was no doubt in her mind that several of her ribs were broken. Behemoth stuck his snout in her face and snorted, opening his jaws again, this time to shriek right into her ear. With great effort Lethe moved a hand against the torrent of pain into her satchel, reaching for her knife. If this monster was going to kill her, he'd do it with scars littering his face and neck. Alas, Lethe could not find the knife. As a final act of defiance she spat the bloody mucus filling her mouth into Behemoth's face. The long sickle claw on the Lizard's left foot slashed downward into her shoulder, and all went black as all the sounds of the battle melded into one muffled roar, which slowly droned away into silence.

Lethe awoke in a forest, away from the killing grounds, with her head resting on a rock as Lyre searched desperately through the pack around her hip for something, anything, that might help her wounded sister. Tears were welling up in Lyre's eyes. Seeing Lethe awake brought her some comfort, though.

"Stay with me," Lyre pleaded, voice shaking. "Please, stay awake. Hold on, I'm sure I have an elixir in here somewhere. Please Lethe, hold on!"

"Where are we?" Lethe asked weakly.

"I had to get you out of there. I saw that you were hurt, and I did everything I could to get you away from that _thing_. I'm not sure how the battle played out- I left with you before it was over- but the enemy was winning last I saw," Lyre recounted. "Talk to me, try to stay with me."

"Where's Lamia?"

"They… I'm not sure; I looked for her, but… I couldn't find Lamia. I found one of her shoes, but that's all. We're near Mt Geherg now. But, I can't find…" Lyre's voice trailed off. "Please Lethe, just hold on."


	8. Words Won't Save Her

"Your name… Ah, I apologize, I can't remember it. It was… Volug, wasn't it?" The wolf did not reply to Michiah's question. He only stopped and looked at her for a moment. Then he continued on through the darkened swamp, as Michiah hurried along to catch up to him. Night had come, and brought with it the chirping of crickets. There were no signs of the Lizards, however.

"Do you not speak?" Michiah questioned Volug again, and again, there was no reply. She took this as a yes. "But your name is Volug, correct?" She was hoping he'd at least look at her and nod. At last he did stop, look back at her, and nod slowly, before continuing on. Michiah had more questions she wanted to ask him, such as how he managed to stay in animal form for so long- for the many hours they'd been fleeing the mountain she'd never once seen him in human form- but if he could not, or would not speak then her questions would have to go answered.

"Save your elixir," Lethe grunted as she pulled herself to her feet, wincing only slightly. "I've survived worse than this. The wounds aren't that deep, and they seem to have stopped bleeding. I'll be fine."

"Sister, there's tough and then there's stupid. Right now you're being the latter," Lyre argued. Her words were ignored. Lethe rubbed her shoulder where Behemoth's claw had pierced the flesh. Her tunic was wet with her own blood, but this was also ignored. As she said, she had survived worse. Lethe still had a vivid memory of having four arrows shot into her at once during a skirmish with Daein a few years ago. A stabbing in the shoulder and some teeth marks in the stomach were nothing compared to that.

"Let's find a place to rest for the night. Tomorrow we'll return to Gallia. Once we're there, well, we'll wait for new orders from his Majesty," said the older sister. "Come. There's likely to be a cave or crevice around here somewhere." She was a bout to soldier on when Lyre put a hand on her shoulder and handed her a long, thick tree branch.

"What's that for?" Lethe inquired.

"A crutch," Lyre answered. Although Lethe could ignore her shoulder, the stinging pain radiating from the many small wounds arranged in a wide arching pattern on her belly slowed her unsupported movements. The older sibling regarded the branch Lyre held out to her for a moment, and then accepted the charity, only mouthing the words "thank you".

Volug rarely stopped to allow Michiah to catch up to him, and when he did it was only for a moment or so. The wolf didn't seem to listen when she pleaded him to slow down, either. The Silver-Haired Maiden was beginning to get only a bit frustrated. "Stop, just for one minute, SLOW DOWN!" she shouted at Volug. He slowed his pace from a gallop to a lazy trot. Then he became slower and slower until he stopped entirely, sniffing at the air. Michiah gladly took this opportunity to regain lost ground. But as soon as she reached his side, Volug ran off into the bush, pursuing the target set by his nose. Michiah was very frustrated now. "FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY, PLEASE COME BACK!" she screamed.

Lethe kept a slow, steady pace with the crutch, which she used more as a walking stick. Occasionally she would stumble a bit and Lyre would steady her. Then they both caught a pair of scents approaching them- a beorc and a fellow laguz, although neither of them could recognize what kind of laguz. Both listened intently to the sounds of the night and the swamp, but they kept moving. The beorc could have been a Begnion or Daein soldier, and the laguz could have been a Lizard. As the sound of bushes rustling and water splashing drew nearer to the sisters, the scents became stronger, and the sound of beorc woman shouting for someone to "slow down" and "wait up" could soon be heard. Then the silhouette of something large and shaggy, running towards the cats could be seen. The laguz certainly wasn't a Lizard, but he certainly wasn't one either of the sisters had seen before; a wolf. The great canine came to a stop once he had fully emerged from the dark gloom, eyeing them carefully as he began to slowly approach them.

"Is that…?" Lyre began.

"It is," Lethe confirmed. "I think it is, at least. A wolf!"

The wolf laguz once resided in Gallia with the rest of the Beast Tribe, until 800 years ago, when the wolves were believed to have perished in a great war. While the Gallians mourned the loss of their lupine brothers, the few surviving wolves fled into the Desert of Death and set up their own miniature nation of Hitari, where the wolves had lived ever since. But neither Lethe nor Lyre knew this. They watched the wolf approach with curious eyes. He stopped a few feet away from them, still watching them intently and sniffing the air.

"Volug, where are you?!" the beorc called out again as she appeared through the gloom as the wolf had before her. Her movements were slow and clumsy as she waded through the mud of the mist-filled marsh. A small red bird- _a cardinal, perhaps,_ Lethe theorized- was perched on her shoulder. The beorc's long, silver hair shone and glowed like a plate of silken armour in the strands of moonlight breaking through the mangrove canopy. _Wait, silver hair? Could that be…?_

"How interesting," Lethe said quietly. "The Silver-Haired Maiden approaches."

"What? Where?!" Lyre questioned in the same hushed tone.

"Over there in the marsh, coming this way." Lethe pointed her out. "How strange this night has been. A wolf and the Silver-Haired Maiden."

The Maiden must have seen them. She looked their way and stopped. "Who's there?" she called. "Volug, you're over there, right? Who else is there?" Lethe put a stiff hand over Lyre's mouth to keep her from saying anything. Lyre saw Lethe's violet eyes flash dangerously as she looked the Maiden's way.

"I couldn't help but notice your hair," Lethe replied to the figure in the mist. "Could you perhaps be the Silver-Haired Maiden?"

"Why, yes, I am!"

"You fight to free Daein from Begnion's oppression. Such a noble objective." A thin, devious smile, barely visible but still there, spread slowly across Lethe's face. "I respect that, wanting to help those who cannot help themselves." Cats did so like to toy with their prey. "Come closer, please." _Yes, come within reach. Tellius would be better off without Daein, and I'll teach you that with fang and claw._

"Lethe, no!" Lyre tried to say with her sister's hand clamped over her mouth.

"Don't try to stop me. If the Maiden liberates Daein, do you know what that will mean?" Lethe questioned in whisper. "That means more hatred. That means constant war between Gallia and Daein yet again. That means the Daeins will be able to resume their annual sub-human hunts. When opportunity calls, Lyre, you'd do well to answer." The wolf looked ready to attack Lethe when she first began this deception, but when she mentioned what Daein's new rise would mean for the laguz, he relented.

"You can't do this," Lyre said almost in a shout, tearing Lethe's hand away from her mouth, "for several reasons _besides _how unethical it is. For one, you're too badly hurt to kill her with any ease. Second, Daein is likely too ravaged by both the Lizards and Begnion to ever regain the strength needed to declare war on Gallia or resume the hunts. Lastly, she could possibly help us. Like you said, when opportunity calls, answer."

Lethe's brow furrowed as she watched the Maiden's sluggish approach. Then she turned her gaze to Lyre, then back to the Maiden again. She narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly.

"Very well," Lethe said grudgingly. "I'll spare her. But if she comes within eyeshot of us and is disappointed to see only a pair of Gallians, your words won't save her."


	9. Welcome to Hell

_You know what? The Lizards are basically just generic monsters going around killing things. Sure, occasionally one will say something, but Vazelesqos is the only one who can be considered an actual character, and even that is debatable. Hey, Gigatron isn't good at giving his monsters personally and originality- he's just good at making them look cool and giving them spiffy names. Sadly, the same goes for his non-monster OCs. _

-Lethe

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Vazelesqos had finally reverted to his human form- although he still looked more like a great scaly monster than any man. He was twelve feet tall, Nailah estimated, and although his face was more human-like he still only had two slit nostrils in between his eyes rather than a nose. His arms, legs, and torso were bulging abhorrently with muscle, and his horns and shell, rather than jutting out over his eyes and covering his neck, now curved upwards and ran down his forehead, creating a sort of mask. Somehow he was even uglier in this form than he was as a forty-foot tall monster. He sat hunched over, tearing chunks of meat off of a severed arm that once belonged to a beorc who wandered too close to Vazelesqos's lair.

The beorc who Vazelesqos had put in Nailah's column prison had kept to themselves. Most of them, save for the green-haired boy, occasionally shot her dirty looks- they were no doubt Daeins. Nailah ignored them almost entirely kept her gaze fixed on Vazelesqos, who ignored all the prisoners, focused more on his feast of mutilated human remains piled in a bloody heap before him. He ate with a voracity Nailah figured no intelligent being should ever eat with. The whole pile of body parts and flesh chunks was gone in under an hour.

After Vazelesqos had finished his meal, he beckoned a Raptor carrying a large sack to approach. The sack's contents had, up until a few minutes ago, squirmed around as if trying to escape. Clearly who or what was inside had now abandoned any hope of escape. The Raptor approached, opened the sack, and dumped what was inside at the Lizard King's feet. A female cat with curly ginger hair wearing a pink tunic looked up from the mess of blood and entrails she'd fallen into at a very pleased Vazelesqos.

"Oh yes, this one will do," Vazelesqos hissed as he grabbed the cat by the throat with one hand and reached for a gauntlet filled with a noxious purple liquid, which he forced her to drink. Nailah recognized the liquid as Uyslev, a fluid that, when consumed by a laguz, would keep the consumer in human form until they came into contact with a Laguz Stone, when they'd regain their ability to transform. Then Vazelesqos reached into the mud and pulled out a long chain ending in several shackles, which he put around the cat's neck, wrists, and ankles. Then he spoke to her.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

"Pl-please don't hurt me…" his captive pleaded.

"You're in the deepest depths of hell. From this day on, there is no goddess watching over you from a heavenly paradise- if there was, she'd fly down on holy wings and save you right now," Vazelesqos mused. "From this day on, there is only obedience and submissiveness. If I tell you to do something, you do it immediately, or your suffering will horrify even the Dark God. You will speak only when spoken to. Is this understood?"

The cat said nothing, but nodded.

"There's a good pussycat. Now tell me, what is Gallia's current standing with the rest of the continent?"

"We're at war with Begnion, and Crimea, Phoenicis, and Kilvas are allied with us. We're not sure what Goldoa is doing…" Vazelesqos cut her of abruptly.

"And what about a little desert nation called Hitari?" the Lizard King questioned.

"Hitari…?" The cat now looked terribly confused.

Vazelesqos continued to question his prisoner like this for next hour or so. While he did this, Nailah figured she'd plan her next move.

"You four," she said to the beorc whom she shared her prison with, "what are your names and who was the girl you followed in here?"

The beorc were noticeably wary of her. "Why should we tell you?" one demanded to know.

"Do you enjoy being here?" she asked.

"No," they all answered in unison.

"Then be a little more forthcoming to me, and I might be able to get us out of here," Nailah promised. "Assuming the racial barrier allows. You four are Daein, are you not?"

"We are," one beorc said.

"Hm. Then I suppose I've got my work cut out for me gaining your co-operation. Think of it this way: Give up a bit of human pride and allow this half-breed to get you out of here, or continue to be proud fools and be messily devoured by the half-breed on the other side of these pillars." Nailah's argument seemed to be quite valid. "Good. The way I see it, the best course of action would be to wait for the monster to fall asleep, then we'll slip out through the pillars. You'll have to go on ahead of me. I've never been one to leave someone to a fate as horrible as this." Nailah looked at the terrified little cat whom Vazelesqos still questioned without relent.

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_Gigatron often fantasizes about an anime _Fire Emblem _movie with a soundtrack by Dragonforce. I commend him for keeping his vision within the realm of reasonability by insisting the film be anime, but that wouldn't change the fact that it would still be a crappy Hollywood summer blockbuster based on a video game. Well, maybe it WOULD be different, as it would be a crappy Japanese summer blockbuster, but still, that just begs for overblown special effects, all deeper meaning stripped away, corny acting, and unintelligible action scenes._

_And Dragonforce? The hell with that, Rhapsody Of Fire for the win._

-Lethe


	10. Confessions

It took a ridiculously long time for Michiah to finally escape the grip of the mud, but she finally came within clear sight range of the laguz.

"Greetings!" she called to them. One waved back, and Volug returned to her side, but that was all the greeting she'd receive. "…Yes, anyways, I am indeed the Silver-Haired Maiden, but I suppose you could have been able to tell that from looking at me. What say we find shelter and then wait till morning there?"

"I second that," one of the Gallians finally said. "It's a pleasure to meet you- more specifically, it's a pleasure to discover you don't seem much like the prejudiced folk you seek to liberate. I am Lyre, and this is my sister Lethe. As you said, let's find a place to stay for the night. I assume you know what dwells in these swamps?"

"The Lizards, yes. I've been in their king's lair. Vazelesqos- that's the Lizard King's name- holds the rest of my group and another wolf, like Volug here, captive." Then Michiah noticed Lethe's wounds. "Milady, your hurt! Please allow me to help."

Lethe could never get used to being called things like "Lady Lethe" or "Milady", but for whatever reason the more formal beorc insisted on calling her that, so she went along with it. She allowed the Maiden to heal here, although she didn't have a healing staff or anything to carry an elixir in. How she planned to heal Lethe's wounds was ambiguous. Then the Maiden put her hands on the injuries while silently chanting something.

"Excuse me, what in the hell are you doing?" Lethe questioned. Then, as the Maiden removed her hands from Lethe's person, she saw her wounds were gone. The Maiden had healed her with only a touch! "…Well that's interesting… That's very interesting… Where ever did you learn a trick like that?"

The Maiden looked exhausted after the healing. "That's not important. You know me as the Silver-Haired Maiden, but my name is Michiah. Let us find shelter now."

And so they did find shelter. It didn't take long to find a large cave which, through a short pit in the center, led into a small complex of underground tunnels, all of which led into smaller subterranean lairs. All of this was abandoned, and the group was quick to descend into the tunnels. All of the four went off on their own- but only at first. Volug eventually ran into Lyre, who began to ceaselessly follow him, and Lethe followed Michiah into the borrow she had chosen for herself. Her curiosity had been piqued by the healing earlier.

Lethe found Michiah curled up to sleep, partially obscured by a blanket of roots and moss growing down from the ceiling. There was total darkness, but the cat's eyes could easily see through the blackness. She could see the little bird accompanying Michiah asleep in the Maiden's hair, and she could see that the Maiden's eyes were slowly opening. "Who's there?!" she called quietly.

"I was wondering… You can heal wounds with but a touch," Lethe mused. "How might you have gotten this ability?"

"…I can't tell you that," Michiah answered, sitting up and clasping her hands around the bird.

"Don't worry, I won't eat your pet," Lethe assured her, seeing how Michiah shielded the little robin. "My only concern is knowing more about you."

"What do you wish to learn?"

"I smell fear. What frightens you so?"

"I'm growing a little uneasy about you."

"Hm. I'd imagine you would. You're quite well known in Gallia, but not for your miracles and your good will. You're known there only for wanting to free Daein and rebuild the country to its former 'glory'. Daein is the enemy of all laguz. In not only Gallia, but also in Kilvas, Phoenicis, and Goldoa, there's a handsome award for your capture, dead or alive."

Michiah was shocked to here this. She didn't realize trying to help her people would have such dire consequences. She knew to be wary of the occupying Begnion army, but she never thought the laguz would be her enemy as well.

"Is that why you came to me tonight? To claim this bounty?"

"No, the gold isn't my concern. Its what your death would mean that would drive me to kill you. Your death would mean Gallia has finally emerged victorious over Daein, once and for all. Your death would mean those lost to Daein's prejudice would at last be avenged. Once when I was young, Daein invaded Gallia- one of the many 'holy wars' they constantly declared on us. My parents were both forced to fight to defend our homeland. I wanted to help them, so I neglected my duties of protecting my younger sisters; there were others who could defend them. I came to my mother's aid- I came to her aid just in time to see a lance plunged into her throat. What happened to my father I never discovered, but he never returned home after the battle."

"…I'm sorry, but I can't let my people be Begnion's slaves," Michiah argued.

"Begnion lays in ruins. The Lizards have overrun the empire," Lethe corrected her.

"But the Lizards themselves are still a problem! And Prince Pelleas next in line for Daein's throne. He has no desire to eradicate Gallia…" Michiah tried to debate further, but Lethe cut her off.

"Prince Pelleas? I'd assume he's the son of Ashnard. Do you know what kind of man Ashnard was? He was a man who sacrificed his own countrymen to the dark god. He returned from the grave as a demon serpent a year after his death to exact revenge. There's nothing you can say that will convince me his son is any better."

"Tell me about your sisters," Michiah demanded suddenly.

"Don't change the subject! If Daein rises again that will mean…" Lethe tried to get the conversation back on track, but Michiah insisted. "Fine. You already know Lyre, the one who accompanies me now. And Lamia…" Lethe stopped.

"Tell me about Lamia," Michiah pressured.

"Lamia is the youngest of us. She never shows it, but I know she looks up to me, although she respects me a bit too much- she insists that her name is Lyre and that Lyre's name is Lamia and that she is my only sister and that Lyre is only a family friend…"

"Describe to me how she looks up to you."

"Lamia watched everything I did with wonder in her eyes when we were young. She completely ignored Lyre, and she was indifferent to our parents, but she regarded me as though I were the queen of Gallia. I don't know what it was she found so wonderful about me, but she thought the world of me. I remember one day many years ago. There was a group of boys in our village teasing me, calling me ugly. This didn't bother me much- I've always thought of beauty as a worthless commodity always taken advantage of. As I left them to their cackling, Lamia, who was with me at the time, looked at up me with those big kitten eyes and said, 'LeLe, I don't think you're ugly, I think you're pretty.'"

"Where is Lamia now? Why wasn't she with you and Lyre?"

"The three of us led a small army against the Lizards earlier today. At first, we were winning, but then, somehow the enemy got the upper hand. Lyre and I managed to escape, and maybe Lamia did as well, but we haven't seen her since the battle."

"What do you suppose happened to her? What do you hope happened to her?"

"Of course, I hope she escaped unharmed, hopefully back to Gallia, but given what we were facing there…" As Lethe spoke, she didn't notice the tear rolling down her cheek at first. Then she felt the slight dampness and looked wonderingly up at the ceiling. "It must be raining. The water's leaking down."

"It isn't raining. You're crying, Lethe," Michiah confirmed. Lethe gave her a puzzled look as more tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Crying…?" Lethe wondered. "Am I… Crying?" She touched her fingertips to her face and felt the tears. Then she turned away ashamedly, wiping the tears away with both hands.

"Its alright. Release the sorrow. I'll tell no one," Michiah promised. Lethe slowly turned to look at her. Then the cat laid her head on Michiah's shoulder as sobs violently shook her body. The Maiden did nothing to stop her. Instead, she softly hummed a lullaby. Lethe felt terribly embarrassed, crying like a frightened little kitten on the shoulder of the enemy of her race. _Michiah had better keep her promise._


	11. In The Flesh

"Victory was attained that easily? Gallia's army fell even with the humans helping them?" Vazelesqos questioned Leviathan. "And all I got out of this was the one girl?" The Lizard King toyed with his sleeping captive's hair. "I hope you ate least ate well, then."

"We ate quite well, my lord," Leviathan answered, now in his human form. The Crocs were perhaps the most grotesque of the Lizards in their humanoid states. Their foreheads bulged grossly, and these bulges were adorned with two constantly flaring nostrils. Other than that their faces looked quite human- disturbingly so. They were terribly hunchbacked, which made them hobble as they walked. Their backs were covered in jagged plates of bony armour. Leviathan was even worse; he was so bloated and fat that he looked liked some kind of demon representing the sin of gluttony.

"I heard Behemoth got a taste of the general leading the attack, but she escaped. Is this true?" Vazelesqos questioned.

"That's correct. We questioned one of the survivors of the battle about many things, one of which who this general and her rescuer are. The answer was 'General Lethe and Grand Tactician Lyre'."

"Excellent, most excellent. Take your battalion and hunt down these two. Bring them both to me, alive. Also, there were five humans who first stumbled into here. But how many do you see in the prison?"

"I see only four humans, my lord."

"Precisely. The fifth escaped. If you happen upon a girl with silver hair, I want her alive as well. Normally I would rather not waste chains on binding humans, but this one interests me. Bring me the general, tactician, and silver-haired human alive. Do as you wish with everything else you find," Vazelesqos ordered. Leviathan waddled away.

Nailah listened to this conversation with growing disgust. She was quickly starting to loathe Vazelesqos and his minions, especially that fat monster Leviathan. She had rarely seen Behemoth, but when he did appear, he never spoke, only grunted and hissed. The Lizard King looked in on her and smiled, which showed chunks of meat stuck in between his teeth. "I'm beginning to think you dislike me," he sneered. "Tell me, Queen of Wolves, what do you think of me?"

"Honestly? You disgust and enrage me. You and your kin are a disgrace to all laguz. If it weren't for you, the beorc would think much higher of us," Nailah answered. "I don't think I'm very fond of you at all."

"Such harsh words. Perhaps you misunderstand me."

"You delight in collecting slaves, your favourite meal is live humans, and you seek to reign over all of Tellius. Do I really misunderstand you? 

"No, you actually understand me quite well." Vazelesqos looked away and pulled three more sets of chains from the mud and set two more vials of Uyslev on the table-like rock beside him. During her time imprisoned here Nailah had slept little, and now felt her eyelids growing slightly heavy. The beorc huddled together on the other side of the prison had already given in to sleep. Vazelesqos was too preoccupied with gnawing on bones to care what his prisoners did. The Wolf Queen gave in to sleep as well.

As Nailah slept, she dreamed. She dreamt she was still in the prison, albeit without the beorc huddled to one side and Vazelesqos taunting her from the outside. Instead, she was the only one in the crater, which a cool draft now swept through. It was suddenly now darker than it was before. Nailah strained her eyes to see, only to see nothing of interest at first. Then, after a few more moments of nearly blind searching she spied a figure in snow white robes at the mouth of the crater. A billowy hood hid the figure's face at first, but as the frigid winds grabbed and tore at the hood until the segmented sapphire mask hidden beneath the hood became visible, if only for a few moments. Nailah wouldn't have even seen the figure at all to begin with if it hadn't been for the glowing, ghost-like aura that surrounded him as he slowly walked down the steep crater wall with an eerie, unnatural grace. He stopped at the bottom of the wall, and looked the Wolf Queen's way.

The figure said something, but the howling of the wind caused his words to reach Nailah's ears as only garbled mumbles. Then he came closer and spoke again as the gusts began to subside.

"Wolf Queen, I have been where you are now," said the apparition. "I offer you my assistance."

"That's quite kind of you, but first I'd like to know who you are," Nailah retorted.

"My name? Is that what you wish to know? I have many names, most which only the Goddess can pronounce. I have many more names that only the water and the earth and the wind can understand. But you of the mortal plain, you may call me Iceheart."

The long forgotten saviour of Tellius now stood before Nailah. Even she, the Queen of Hitari and the Wolf Tribe, felt like a lowly subject of a greater noble.

"My link to this world is weak. I cannot help you physically, and once you have awoken I can communicate no longer. I can only tell you what must be done. I have been in the prison you are in now, and I know how to escape. Dig through the mud until you reach a hard surface. Push down as hard as your strength will allow on this surface, and the pillars will spread apart, allowing you to escape," Iceheart instructed.

"Then what?"

"Once you have done that, flee the mountain and go into the swamp. Search for a large cave with an opening in the centre that leads into a complex of tunnels below. In these tunnels you will find not only the beorc you spoke to earlier and Volug, but two Gallians. Speak to the short-haired cat and the beorc and tell them everything I'm about to tell you now…" Iceheart explained in great detail what was to be done after the rendezvous. Then he departed without any further words. Nailah still had many questions to ask Him, but it seemed they would go unanswered. Then the Wolf Queen awoke. The beorc were still huddled away from her, fast asleep. Vazelesqos was still outside the prison, picking scraps of flesh out from between his teeth.

Without hesitation Nailah went into wolf form and began to dig through the mud. Strangely enough, Vazelesqos didn't seem to notice. He was too distracted with resuming his interrogation of his captive Gallian. Nailah was quickly tiring of him probing the scared little cat.

"Leave her be, she clearly doesn't have the information you want," she snapped at the Lizard King.

"There is still amusement to be had from her," Vazelesqos replied.

"Amusement from torturing her? Do you not know what mercy is?!"

"I know quite well what mercy is. I simply choose not to show any."

Nailah was disgusted, but there was nothing she could do at this time. She continued digging slowly and quietly.


	12. Escape

For those having a bit of trouble with some of the names and terms, I'm going to take a moment to help you out with that. (Some of the following pronunciations FE fans will already know, but just in case someone who isn't an FE fan stumbles upon this fic, I'll include them anyway):

Vazelesqos – Va-zel-es-kos

Uyslev – U-es-lev

Laguz – La-gooz

Beorc – Bee-orc

Lyre – Lie-er

Now that that's out of the way, we can continue one.

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_Ah, here we are._

Nailah had unearthed the solid surface hidden beneath the mud Iceheart had told her of. She pushed down hard on it, as hard as she could. Nothing. The object didn't budge. She pushed again, straining herself now. Still nothing. Nailah was quite frustrated by now. But, she remained calm as her eyes wandered to the beorc. They were still asleep, _the lazy humans, _and would likely not co-operate, but the Wolf Queen decided to pitch the idea to them regardless.

"Rise and shine," Nailah called to the beorc, "we're getting out of here." This caught their attention. She explained what had to be done, and all the while they listened intently. If what Iceheart said in the dream was true, which it so far seemed to be, they'd be able to push the object inward and free themselves through a group effort. They all gathered around the stone slab and all at the same time, pushed it down into the mud. The object slowly slid down into the filth, and sure enough, the ground rumbled as the pillars forming the prison slid aside, creating a large opening through which they could escape! Vazelesqos was asleep at that time, and fortunately he was a very deep sleeper. He stayed in his slumber as the beorc fled. Nailah told them where to go once they left the mountain, and that she would meet up with them later.

Right now Nailah had important business to attend to there in the crater. If it was at all possible, she intended to free Vazelesqos's captive. The Wolf Queen slowly and cautiously approached the sleeping Lizard King and his slave, whose chains he held onto tightly. Perhaps Nailah could pull the shackled open? It was worth a try. The bound cat was on the verge of sleep, but could be heard whimpering and was noticeably rocking herself back and forth like a scared child. Her face and limbs were covered in small scratches and bruises from Vazelesqos's interrogations. Her ears perked up as Nailah approached, and she slowly opened one blood-shot eye.

"I'm going to get you out of here, don't worry," Nailah assured her. "Just don't move until I've dealt with the chains, and be silent."

_How to go about this, _the Wolf Queen wondered. She couldn't move the chains much or Vazelesqos would awaken. The moving pillars were surprisingly quiet, but the chains were rusted and heavy. Moving them much at all would make quite a racket indeed, no doubt enough to rouse the slumbering giant. Vazelesqos mumbled something in some ancient tongue in his sleep as Nailah scrutinized the chains and the captive they bound. His lips and fingers twitched, curling and unfurling, as if to sneer while throttling an imaginary victim. He was actually more intimidating in his sleep than he was awake.

Then it occurred to Nailah that trying to pull the shackles off was a foolish idea. The shackles all had keyholes in them, however. Perhaps she could pick the locks with her claws in wolf form? She shifted into animal form and inserted a claw into a keyhole adorning one of the shackles. After fiddling around for a few moments, something clicked into the shackle, and it fell from the cat's wrist with a loud clang. Vazelesqos stirred and snorted, but remained asleep. More carefully now Nailah picked the locks, catching the unlocked shackles in her jaws and then carefully lowering them onto the ground. The cat was freed, and Nailah led her out of the crater and out of Mt Geherg.

Once they were a sufficient distance from the lair of Vazelesqos, the two stopped. "There are some things I'm going to need to know," Nailah announced. "You don't mind if I ask you a few questions, do you?"

"Go ahead," the cat answered breathlessly. _The poor dear, _Nailah thought.

"You're quite obviously Gallian. Would you happen to know of General Lethe and Grand Tactician Lyre?" the Queen of Wolves asked.

"Yes, I do know them! They're my sisters!"

"Excellent, the means you can identify their scents?"

"Yes, I can."

"Good, I have need to meet them. May I know your name?"

"My name?" The cat suddenly became stand-off-ish. "Why would I tell you my name if you haven't told me yours yet?"

"Well, I rescued you from a fate that was likely worse than death. If you want to know my name, I am Nailah, queen of the Wolf laguz, who have lived in isolation from the rest of Tellius in the Desert of Death for 800 years. And who might you be?"

"…My name is Lyre."

"You can't be Lyre, your sister's name is Lyre."

"No, her name is Lamia. _My _name is Lyre."

"…Right, we'll get that cleared up when we find your sisters. If you'll lead the way…"

The cat sniffed the air, then nodded south-eastwards. "They're about a mile that way," she said. The two rushed off into the night, following that lead intently. However, as they left they did not notice the beady black eyes on a fat navy blue face watching them from the bog.

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_Gigatron plans on starting an account on despite the fact that, well, we'll just say he's a much better writer than he is an artist in order to post concept art of his OCs and humorous comics and scenes featuring both OCs and canon characters- namely me dressed as Sherlock Holmes exclaiming "Elementary!" I'm not at all opposed to the idea, surprisingly enough especially not the Sherlock Holmes thing- that's actually quite amusing- but before he does that he's going to need a few more months of practise._

_In other news… There is no other news, it seems. Cheerio, chaps. _

-Ranulf


	13. Third Act

I. HATE. WRITER'S BLOCK.

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"_Do_ you talk?"

No reply came. Lyre looked at the wolf inquisitively. Volug gave her a glance after she asked, but said nothing. The cat had chased him down to a small gully and begun to question him. Lyre's curiosity had won out.

"So... You're mute? You don't talk at all?" Lyre asked. Volug nodded slowly as he lay down to sleep. Lyre sighed and sat down on a moss-covered rock, twiddling her thumbs. Her own eyelids were growing heavy, but who was to say they were not being pursued? For all they knew, every Lizard in Daein was surrounding their cave! Suddenly Lyre had scared herself wide awake. It was indeed a disturbing thought, that the haven where they all felt so safe and secure from the horrors in the swamps around them could at any moment be infiltrated, and that they could all be eaten alive as they slept.

But it was improbable. Possible, but improbable. This is what Lyre told herself, at least. It was possible, but improbable. She calmed down and again felt herself growing tired. She yawned and lowered herself down onto the mossy earth.

_The beorc ran two miles and stopped dead. I should have foreseen this, _thought Nailah with a sort of amusement as she caught the scent of the beorc who were imprisoned with her in Vazelesqos's lair on the wind. She and the identity-confused cat had plodded along in animal form as they searched for their destination. Although the scent of fear wafted with the scent of the beorc as well as radiated from the cat, Nailah felt no intimidation from this hostile environment and the hellish beasts inhabiting it. To her, this was rather exhilarating, traversing this marsh to meet the General and the Maiden to carry out Iceheart's instructions a challenge to be met. Perhaps she could manage to convince the near-petrified cat and the layabout beorc to go along with her.

Just as Nailah was about to pick up the pace, the cat suddenly became still. She finally was petrified. The Wolf Queen rolled her eyes and nudged her a bit. "We have to get moving now." This was met with only a blank stare, as well as another scent on the air: that of Vazelesqos's! He was coming this way, quickly. The ground shook with his thunderous footsteps!

"See that tree over there? Get over there, hide behind that," Nailah instructed, motioning to a towering grove tree jutting from the swamp water. The cat did not hesitate to follow these instructions. Nailah herself did not hesitate to run as fast as her legs would carry her to the beorc as a tree was knocked out of the ground by the mighty swing of a massive clawed hand. Vazelesqos was nearly upon her! But the beorc were in sight up ahead. They must have at least heard the tree crashing to the ground and felt the tremors of the Lizard King's footsteps, as they were on the move away from him as well. That meant Nailah's work there was done before it even began. Now the Wolf Queen had to save herself.

Vazelesqos must have spotted Nailah, as he heralded his pursuit of her with a thunderous roar! Each booming crash of his feet to the earth brought his jaws closer and closer to her. Now Nailah was a bit frightened, but she remained calm and collected. She spotted something up ahead that could save her: a burrow-like hole in the ground, large enough for her to dive into. Of course, if she could fit into in wolf form, Vazelesqos could likely be able to crawl into it in human form. But it was worth a try. His rank breath burned the fur on her tail. He was nearly upon her! But she was nearly upon the burrow.

As the hole neared, Nailah veered off to the left and dove into it, a thin network of vines and filth splattering her snout as she did so. Vazelesqos lunged after her, but his jaws crashed into the dirt and stopped there. The burrow led into a steep ascending stairway (that Nailah descended with some difficulty as such speed) at the bottom of which awaited a narrow passage. So narrow that once Nailah retreated into it-Vazelesqos was beginning to force his head into the hole, using his snout as a shovel to push away the dirt, thus making the opening larger- she was forced to assume human form in order to comfortably fit into it. As the Lizard King attempted to break into this safe zone, the Wolf Queen took her time wandering down the passage away from him- no way he was going to get in there, human form or not.

_Wooden plank floors, runes carve onto the stone walls... this place must have once been quite important. _Nailah was deep in thought about this, but not so much that she paid Vazelesqos no mind. He had become silent, but this would not fool her. If he'd left, good. But there was still the cat and the beorc. What had become of them? Perhaps this tunnel led to somewhere near them? That too, was worth a try. As Nailah progressed further down the passage, she thought she heard someone whispering after her. After stopping and listening, she discovered someone _was _whispering after her; Vazelesqos. Upon looking back to the entrance of the tunnel over her shoulder, she could see he was in human form, standing hunched over at the opening as if patiently waiting for something. The moonlight streamed into the hole and lit his hulking silhouette.

"You're looking for your little friends, I assume," Vazelesqos said in a hushed growl to Nailah. "Very well, then. Find them. Find them and then I'll come and find you. I look forward to it. And after your bones are crushed to dust I'll find Hitari and do as I see fit there. A nation without a ruler will be easily conquered." He paused for a moment. "The anticipation is killing me," the Lizard King said finally before slithering away into the dark.

Nailah was looking forward to their next meeting as well. That was when she would wipe that awful, toothy grin from Vazelesqos's scaly, blood-caked face. The Lizard King had one glaring weakness: Always announcing his intentions to those who opposed him.

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At last, chapter 12 is up! Sorry about the delay. There were a number of factors keeping me from getting this up in time, school exams, laziness, and writer's block among them. This fic is nearly finished, but I've got a third big FE fic planned out; however, it'll have to wait until I've finished my current _Godzilla _project. I can't focus only on one fandom when I support so many others, can I?


	14. The End is Near

I have a bit of a problem on my hands right now. I'm starting to lose my fic-writing motivation. Granted, most people would probably smile upon an aspiring writer like myself ditching fan fiction to move onto original writing, but that's not the route I want to go just yet. I enjoy writing fan fiction and its something I want to continue doing for a while now. I'm just in some kind of slump in doing it lately, which explains the recent lack of updates.

In other news, who here's seen _Cloverfield_? Awesome movie, that. I can't recommend it if you get motion sickness, though. The only thing keeping this from the best monster movie since _Jurassic Park _is that the camera kept flailing all around. If only the cameraman had a tripod...

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Even further underground, beneath the tunnels, was an underground river. Swimming in these veins was Leviathan, the hideous mass of navy blue flesh and knife-like teeth moving slowly through the murky water. He knew there was a passage that led into the burrows above, where his prey slept. He only thought it was a shame he'd only be able to devour one of them. Vazelesqos wanted the other three alive. The Croc was drawing near to his destination, and thus to his victims. He anticipated this hotly.

Leviathan's beady eyes could make out the passage a few meters ahead of him. He swam a bit faster, not that he needed to be in any rush; his slumbering victims weren't going anywhere. He dragged his giant, heaving body out of the mud and crawling over to the open doorway that would lead to both his next meal and his next promotion. The most difficulty he'd get from this mission would be fitting his mass through the passage.

"No, this isn't the way, either..."

Leviathan froze. Had someone just spoken in the passage ahead? He was almost at the doorway when he heard this voice. Surely however was ahead had heard his thumping footsteps. No matter; all this meant was that he'd get his meal sooner. He smirked as he plotted his next move and sniffed the air; the scent confirmed his prey to be the she-wolf Vazelesqos once held prisoner. Leviathan's smile faded- this one was to be brought to the Lizard King alive as well. The wolf's scent was slowly growing stronger. She was approaching. Leviathan relished the thought that if the rest were like this, his mission would be over so soon.

_How to go about this? _The Lizard wondered. _Perhaps I allow her to come first, and then cut her off? _There was little time to think. She was practically right around the corner, just out of sight. Then the scent suddenly stopped growing in strength; the wolf had stopped, most likely having smelled her would-be ambusher. She was probably waiting to ambush Leviathan as he came around the corner! The Croc hissed at this idea. No fleabag was going to get the better of him. This would be more a battle of wits than of strength, but the Lizard was quite confident that he was smarter than a dumb Beast. His ancient wisdom, accumulated over endless decades, was superior to that of any shaggy mutt, to that of any...

While Leviathan was lost in his delusions of grandeur, Nailah struck. She rushed at him from around the corner, pouncing right into his face and tearing at his thick, blubbery flesh before he had any idea what was hitting him! The Lizard tried to heave himself backwards into the water, but the Wolf Queen was quick to herd him into the narrow passage. Now Leviathan was trapped, taken off-guard by an opponent he had sorely underestimated. The Croc began snapping his jagged jaws in all directions, biting blindly at the air, his teeth never once touching their intended target. The Lizard's hide, mostly his face and hind legs, were covered in deep wounds inflicted by the fangs of the Wolf Queen. Leviathan stumbled and tottered as Nailah struck and pierced him again and again. He could never even successfully counterattack. He fell onto his side, dead, when the Wolf Queen leapt on his back, sunk her fangs deep into the already-torn flesh, and snapped his neck.

Nailah dismounted the hulking corpse of Leviathan and spat out the enemy's blood that filled her mouth. She greatly preferred smaller foes; they made much less of a mess. Now she had to get all of this blood out of her fur.

Michiah had not moved in nearly two hours. She had remained in one position for so long because Lethe had fallen asleep on her shoulder. This did not bother the Maiden at all, however. She was soon to be asleep herself regardless. Her eyelids became heavy and began to slide shut... and then she felt Lethe slip away. She opened her eyes.

"What's wrong?" inquired Michiah.

"You won't tell anyone about that?" Lethe answered the question with another question.

"Of course not! But surely that cannot be all that's bothering you." Lethe was huddled against the earthen wall opposite to Michiah, with seemingly the intention of distancing herself as far away from the Maiden as possible without leaving the burrow.

"Were you truly sympathising with me? I couldn't help but overanalyze; the would-be saviour of Daein allowing a Gallian, a sworn enemy of the nation she sought to liberate, to cry upon her shoulder. Could there not be some motivation? Could you not have planned out something the instant the first tear fell?"

Michiah gave no response.

"I see I may have stumbled upon something. I'd never taken you for a fool; Daein wouldn't be liberated by an idiot," Lethe continued. "Now with the Lizards over-running the continent, you'd have to take desperate measures to accomplish your goal. Tell me now: what are you playing at? Is it _you _who takes _me _for a fool?"

"No, I hadn't thought you were a fool, but now you're beginning to look like one." Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, or the seriousness of the situation, but Michiah was allowing her slowly growing irritation to show. "Tellius is infested with demons from hell, and all you can do is concoct conspiracy theories? I'm not playing at anything. There was no motivation for what I did earlier. If there was anyone who had ulterior motives, it may very well be you. Were you truly weeping? Do you truly even have a sister named Lamia?" She would have continued had the earth not began to quake for a moment, then again as what sounded like explosions thundered on the ground above, then again and again in a steady pattern; footsteps. They both knew what this meant. Vazelesqos was upon them!

The Lizard King's approach had alerted others as well. The booming footsteps indicated to Nailah that she'd have to get the last few specks of blood out of her fur later. For now she'd have to hurry in navigating the labyrinth she currently rested in and rush to the surface. Actually, that wasn't quite necessary. One of Vazelesqos's feet smashed through the ceiling and nearly crushed the Wolf Queen!

The foot and leg withdrew, and a massive hand pulled away more of the stone roof of the tunnel, until the hand too withdrew and Vazelesqos now stared down at Nailah. "This is quite depressing," he growled as he stomped on the passage behind her until it collapsed. "The Queen of the Wolves, trapped like a rat. It so saddens me to kill even a mange-ridden Beast like you in such a way. But take solace in the fact that you'll not die exactly here and now- I still have yet to torture you for information."

"Information, information- I suppose I should be presently surprised that you aren't as dullheaded as your minions, but what is it with you and purging everyone you meet for every last thing they know?" Nailah was growing quite impatient with this oversized leather sack.

"Tell me, what are my plans?" Vazelesqos asked.

"Me tell you what your plans are? You should know what _your own _plans a..."

"I am to send a breeding pair of my kin to warring countries in order to overtake them from inside out, yes?"

"That is what you said."

"And you believe this?"

"...Now that you speak of it like this, no, I don't."

"Then I'm pleasantly surprised to find you aren't as stupid as the rest of your hair-covered tribe!" Vazelesqos roared. "That isn't my plan. I told you that to throw you off. And for the longest time you believed! Such a fine fool you make, Wolf Queen! Perhaps I shall hand you a jester's cap and let it be stained with your blood as I beat what I need to know out of you!"

"We'll bicker later. We've more important matters at hand," Lethe announced as she roused herself. Michiah would not object. Vazelesqos was tearing the ground apart to get to them, although they heard only his destroying of the tunnels. They had no knowledge that he had Nailah imprisoned. The ground shook again as his ear-shattering roar rent the air and shattered the night, and what felt like an earthquake followed as he seemed to start moving around frantically. Clearly something was giving him trouble. Then an alarming thought came to Lethe's mind as the pair navigated the dark underground; _where have they gone? _She could smell neither Lyre nor Volug; they had gone and left! But with all the tremors and noise, and the menace proverbially right next door, one could not be blamed for allowing their Fight of Flight to take over.


	15. Suicide or Friendly Fire

You know, just recently I had this idea; not that I'm saying it should, because this is something that would be hard to pull off, could have a media section, where people could post fan videos and such. I think that would be pretty awesome, but like I said it would be hard to do, so I'm not counting on it. Still, I'm having another idea right now in which I stumble into an anime convention and start bothering everybody with comments like "who are you supposed to be?" and other ignorant questions, while recording it all. And of course, I'd be wearing a bad Halloween costume the whole time and asking "guess who I am". Oh, what could have been…

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"Don't bother looking for the others," said Lethe as she headed down the tunnel that led to the surface. "They've left us."

"But can't you follow them? Track them down, follow their scent?" Michiah questioned.

"There's no time for that. We'll have to get away from here and find them later." Another giant foot smashed through the ceiling behind them as the titan above roared its fury into the night. Trees could be heard crashing down above. It sounded like the end of the world up there. Had it not been for the tunnel behind them collapsing, Lethe and Michiah would have opted to stay underground.

The dirt path leading to the cave seemed to be a hundred miles long, but eventually the slowly approaching light of dawn could be seen creeping into the tunnel through the hole that led back into the world of the light. Still, there was the rumbling and roaring above. With every passing moment the intensity of the struggle above grew. But this nightmare would end soon, although another could begin moments later- but positive thinking can overcome any danger, as Michiah reassured herself at this moment. The duo emerged from the tunnels, but only one would take this opportunity to escape. The Maiden stood frozen in place as the cat ran on ahead.

"What's wrong?! Of all times, don't hold us up now!" Lethe shouted back as she skidded to a stop. Michiah was looking in the direction the cat was running. The sounds of whatever monster's rampage had ended, and were replaced by a steady, loud breathing. The beorc pointed to the laguz's left. There, looking down upon them from a mess of shattered trees and churned swamp, was Vazelesqos!

"At last, we meet, General Lethe," the Lizard King snarled. "You've been very popular among my troops lately. No one has ever survived Behemoth's claws before."

Lethe had never beheld the monster that was the King of Lizards before. She only stared at him for a moment. "Wha-what in the…?" she managed to gasp. His size was overpowering- he towered over many of the trees.

"And how fortunate am I tonight- the human is with you!" Vazelesqos turned his gaze on Michiah. Something flashed in his yellow eyes. "The general, the maiden, and the queen, all gathered here to be taken to their graves. In some way, it seems fitting for all of you to meet this fate."

"The queen?" Lethe knew nothing of the Wolf Queen until she sprang from nowhere and landed between the Gallian and the Lizard.

"Here you are, all three of you! How obedient!" Vazelesqos smiled. "At this rate you all my as well offer yourselves to me."

"You there, Gallian," Nailah called to Lethe as she slowly, cautiously backed away from the now-approaching Vazelesqos. "Follow me." The Queen of Wolves darted away in Michiah's direction, and Lethe followed. As the Lizard King lumbered towards her, Michiah figured it was in her best interest to do as they did. The trio fled from the Lizard King's jaws, deeper into the swamp, deeper and deeper until Nailah suddenly came to a halt.

Vazelesqos's thunderous footsteps could be heard approaching, and could be felt growing stronger as the pale green water in the bog rippled with each mighty step. This did not seem like a good time to stop to Lethe or Michiah.

"Not to be a nuisance, but shouldn't we be running now?" the Maiden questioned as the pursuing monster's roar shook the marsh like an earthquake. The Wolf Queen, instead of answering, began sniffing the mud.

"Are you mad?! We need to move now!" Lethe blurted.

"There, that way." Said Nailah, completely ignoring everything said to her, looking to her right. "We need to lure him that way. Smell the air, Gallian. Surely then you'll see what I have in mind."

Lethe did as instructed, and sure enough, it dawned on her what Nailah was planning. However, Vazelesqos could be seen approaching through the mangroves, his boxy head visible above treetops! "Whatever it is you have in mind, now would be an excellent time to act on it!" Michiah's voice was raised nearly to a scream by the time she'd finished her sentence. Too late. Vazelesqos, becoming impatient had torn a tree out of the ground and hurled it at them.

After narrowly dodging the thrown tree, the trio all came to the conclusion that they'd have to fight the Lizard King off in order to reach their destination. Vazelesqos charged, roaring his fury. They ducked out of the way, and pulling the tome of Ellight from her satchel, Michiah loosed a blast of light into the Lizard King's eyes, blinding him, but only for a moment. His massive feet stomped, his tail slashed the air, and his jaws snapped at everything around him.

His tail struck the tree he had hurled at his foes, which Lethe now waited upon. Once the monster's tail was close enough, the cat pounced upon it, latched on, and climbed up Vazelesqos's back, her claws digging deep into the iron-hard scales- the only way she'd stay on with his clawed fingers slashing at her. Once she reached his neck, she lunged and bit down where his head met his neck with all her might! The King of Lizards screamed and writhed, knocking trees and boulders out of the ground. Nailah, who had been tearing at the behemoth's legs with her fangs and claws, and Michiah, who'd been pelting Vazelesqos's eyes with more blinding light, were forced to retreat under the rain of stone and wood.

Finally Vazelesqos snatched Lethe off of his neck. He tossed her aside and charged at her prone body, mouth open wide for the kill, when Nailah blindsided him, fangs tearing savagely at his eye until it was a bloody pulp, when she backed away. "I remember you specifically telling me that you wanted us all alive," the Wolf Queen huffed.

"Therein lays your weakness- far to trusting," Vazelesqos chuckled as he put a clawed hand over his mutilated eye. "You see, Queen of Wolves, near everything I say is a lie. I'm a treacherous wretch. I have no want for whatever you can tell me, I was only testing to see to what extent you'd believe me. And you believed to a great extent!" Then he lunged, without warning, and caught Nailah between his crushing jaws and threw her into a tree! "But what I said about Hitari," Vazelesqos growled was the Wolf Queen was out of his mouth, "that was no lie. That I fully intend to do."

Two of the trio were at their enemy's mercy. It all depended on one now. One who was more than up to the challenge. Streams of light shot from the foliage from all directions and bombarded Vazelesqos in a brilliant display of flashes and white explosions! Michiah was hoping she wouldn't be driven to use magic this powerful, this tome known as Purge, as its usage was exhausting, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Vazelesqos screamed his pain, white glowing burns scarring his hide. In counterattack he uprooted another tree and hurled it in the Maiden's direction, but another Purge not only vaporized the tree, but riddled Vazelesqos with more glowing white burns.

Michiah was draining herself alive; she tried to stay standing but fell to her knees. Conscience was slowly slipping away, but she tried to fight off the approaching dark, although there was nothing she could do to fend off the approaching jaws of the enraged Vazelesqos. But she was not the only one who would not surrender to this tyrant. Lethe and Nailah both pounced on his ankles and tore at his hamstrings! The Lizard King kicked them both off before any serious harm could be done, however. But that did not end the beasts' assault. Lethe dug her claws into his foot and climbed up his leg and Nailah continued her attack on his ankle. The muddy clearing in the jungle this clash took place in now looked like it had been the place of the most violent and epic battle Tellius had ever seen. Vazelesqos snapped at both of his attackers, his teeth, reaching neither of them.

The monster's claws and teeth rent the empty space around Lethe as she hauled her aching body onto the Lizard King's back and sauntered low along his spine. She was quick, but careful and she crawled onto his forehead. The behemoth shook his head violently, and Lethe's claws were put to the test as she hung on for dear life. His roar exploded louder than thunder into her ears. Meanwhile, on the ground, Nailah had accomplished her part of the mission; she ripped apart the thick flesh of Vazelesqos and bit down as hard as she could upon the exposed bone. A sickening crack could be faintly heard under the Lizard King's roars, and Vazelesqos nearly fell headfirst into the bog. Then he let out another bellow.

"Maiden, now!" Nailah shouted to Michiah.

"Now?! What about now?!"

"Purge him while his mouth is open!"

Michiah figured this meant to fire Purge into Vazelesqos's open mouth. But that could kill her! And Lethe was still clinging to the monster's face. What if Purge struck her? It could either be suicide or friendly fire! It was a risk she couldn't take. To put it bluntly, it was idiocy. But what if it wasn't? What if it could actually work? Surely Lethe would see the projectiles coming and get away before they struck. Surely one of them had an elixir of some other potent healing item to revive Michiah when her energy was spent. It was worth a try.

The Lizard King thrashed wildly, throwing the Gallian hanging from his forehead away. That eliminated the threat of friendly fire. What little of her strength that remained Michiah now summoned as Vazelesqos looked her way and opened his mouth wide, and then charged. He limped badly, slowing his approach somewhat, but he still came quickly. He was too slow regardless. The spiralling rays of light that formed Purge snaked from Michiah's palm and, at breakneck speed, into the Lizard King's mouth!

Vazelesqos stopped and gagged, his body glowing a faint yellow. His skin began to melt off, allowing the glow to strengthen as his eyes, even the one that was ripped apart, turned white as grey smoke poured from his nostrils. Then he exploded.

It seemed rather silly to Michiah that Vazelesqos would explode, even as burning chunks of glowing white flesh rained down on her. It was almost random and nonsensical how quickly and suddenly it happened. It wasn't as if she's tossed a bomb down his throat- it was Light magic.

Once the flaming corpse of the Lizard King smouldered and settled, Lethe rushed to the hill where Michiah was. Nailah sniffed the air- another scent could be faintly smelled over the stench of the dead behemoth; two more of the Beast Tribe.

"Michiah!" Lethe yelled over the sizzling of the charred flesh chunks. The Maiden was nowhere to be seen. But she could vaguely be smelled. From what Lethe's nose told her, she was buried under the dozens of scraps of meat scattered everywhere. The cat was injured, one of her legs, broken and her right arm gashed deeply, but she had energy for this last objective. As quickly as she could Lethe pinpointed where Michiah most likely was and pushed the chunks aside until the Maiden's pale face could be seen amongst the blood and gore. She was breathing- laboured and slow, but she was still breathing.

"Michiah," Lethe said quietly. Michiah's eyes slowly opened. She looked slightly surprised. "I'm going to get you out of here. Don't move, I'll have this mess off you soon."

"Why are you helping me?" Michiah asked hoarsely. "Daein, and the burrow, and… Yune! I left Yune behind in the burrow!" She started struggling, trying to move.

"Calm down, stay still! It was only a bird, Michiah, stay still!" This was no time to be worrying about a pet. "I'm helping because it is only natural for allies to assist one another." At last, enough of the gruel was moved for Lethe to help Michiah onto her feet. The two limped back down the hill, where Nailah waited, supporting herself with a tree branch as a crutch. Volug sat at her side.

"Lethe, your sisters were here a moment ago," Nailah announced. "They say the Laguz Alliance is hunting down and taking care of the remaining Lizards. The Gallian army is on its way here as we speak."

"In that case I guess I'm staying here for a while," Lethe sighed as she grabbed two more tree branches knocked to the ground by Vazelesqos's rampage for herself and Michiah. "What will you two do now?

"I have something very important to attend to in the Desert of… Well, I suppose it's the Bog of Death now," replied Nailah. "Volug, would you escort the Maiden back to her group?"

After a few moments of rest and good-byes, Lethe sat down under the shade of a tree and Watched the other three leave. The sun was now high in the sky. Lethe wondered what was to the right the Nailah found so important. Clearly it must have been something she intended to use to defeat Vazelesqos. But the Lizard King was dead regardless, and his minions were being dealt with.

The wind blew in from the North, carrying with it the scent of the approaching Gallian army. But they wouldn't be here for another few hours or so. Lethe decided now would be a good time to catch up on sleep. She had hardly any last night.

_**THE END**_


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